Passions
by Uplifted
Summary: Both Trieze and Milliardo, powerful mutants, are collecting young teenagers who show promise. But when their interest is caught by the two newest mutants on the block, Relena Dorlian and the mysterious Hiro, how will the two escape the upcoming war?
1. I

Passions: A Gundam Wing Fanfiction, fused with impliments of the X-Men.

Brought to you by: Windows XP Media, and Microsoft Word.

Thanks for reading everyone, this means a great deal, even if you dislike my writing!

Passions

_By_

_Uplifted_

Screams and cries were heard, as metal groaned and fire lashed at any near enough to witness the horendous explosion, the cunningly planted bomb bursting into a thousand angry screams of red and sparks of gold. Thick, choking smoke rose from the building as windows shattered and people scrambled for their lives, sobbing and sliding their way to safety. Many were left behind, in the living's pursuit of life. Those who had already died were mere distractions of a world flying into chaos.

A camera showed the burning building of one of ther world's more prominent business men, and the anchorman came back suddenly, with news to share. The audience of the horrific bombing grew still, hushing themselves to wait, was there worse to hear? Another strike?

"And we bring you live, to the Kensington Building, where today, my words, and these pictures cannot accurately describe such carnage. We have received news that Mr. Kensington and his family were not in the building at that time, and are safe from further attacks. Mr. Kensington was well known for his anti-mutant advocation, and is still firm in his beliefs against these monsters of the"

_Click._

Protests were heard, and people stood, in the crowded smalltown bar, cranning their necks angrily to see who had the gumption to turn off the television in one of the most pivotal point of history in centuries- ever since the formation of the colonies, in fact. The man who had relieved the screen of it's grotesque images was already calming walking out the door, though calmly had nothing to do with it. If this man had anything to say, the attacks would have gone as planned, and Mr. Kensington would be preaching his world of perfection to Hitler. A cloud of smoke rose from the burning cigarette, and the man calmly flicked away ash, inhaling in the reassuring scent of smoke. Burnt umber hair glinted in the cold sunlight, and the mysterious man smiled to himself, a metallic glint to his steely gaze.

Things would be going his way soon enough.

A bit farther away, (thousands of thousands of miles, to be exact) a youth, lean and strong, sat in the luxurant grass of the L1 colony, enjoying the sunlight, though no amount of pleasure would ever reach his stony face. Many thought it was frozen that way, and mothers often remarked to their young;

"Your face willbe frozen like young Hiro if you keep that face up!" At which point they would promptly release their comical, or eerie face, and their mother's would congradulate themselves on a job well done. Hiro himself had long since forgotten about smiling, and took greater pleasure in simply strolling the colony to which he belonged, frustrated at his lack of participation in the events of the world. Silently raising hands to his face, the youth examined his hands, and the knuckles between each calloused finger. Silently he mentally voiced a command, and not-so-silently, three deadly knives of gundanium flashed out, between each knuckle. It had always amazed him, that he had survived such treatments in the military labs of the colonies. And it still amazed him, though he would never voice it, that most of his memories of that time had escaped him. His body remembered every torture, every exercise, yet his mind could only remember flashes. Grunting with unspoken pain, he sheathed his weapons, so that his suspicious neighbors would not see his mutant qualities. That was the word for his peculiar attributes- mutation. The gift, or curse, of evolution. Politicians debated their humanity, while they themselves wondered over it. Brought to society in a whirl of rasicm, disgust and mistrust, mutants were the scourge of humanity. At least, to those who did not possess such impossibly gifts such as, flight, mind-reading, inhanced physical prowess and beastiality. It was too much for most to comprehend. Hiro simply thought of his healing factor, the only realy mutation he knew of. The 'other thing' was a gift from a devil. And that devil would one day pay.

Hiro had been spending his borrowed time at a colony far from where he had escaped. At the teenaged age of 17, he had been mentally ready to escape his house of tortures. But something had happened, and now…

Now his memories consisted of black and white pictures that graced his prescence at inconvieniant intervals.

Sighing again, more softly, Hiro allowed himself to drift into a deep sleep, one that he had never before known. He had been resistant to sleep, careful of his enemies, and their tracking of his movements. He hoped to go to Earth one day, and escape them all together. He wanted them, and he didn't know why. He couldn't possibly be that important. His dark blue eyes opened, and glanced about, suspicious as before of his surroundings. It had seemed a bit quiet in these last few weeks, no doubts it was time to move on to another job on L1. His thoughts assuaged, he drifted back to his undisturbed sleep. Let the world handle it's own problems, and let it leave you out of the way. Let it go on it's own…

Startled from his thinking, one Milliardo Marquis stood in front of a vast system of networks, all interconnected to his own machine that inhanced his own mutation; intelligence and telepathy. One of the more powerful telepaths, Milliardo had not yet ceased his search for his enemies, or for his allies. He was ever on the hunt, for new mutants and old, trying to recruit enough that his army would be formidable enough to crash against the wave of tyranny that he felt closing in on his school. He had not progressed so far in life to see it all destroyed thanks to the prejudice and blind loyalty of others. Kushrenada and the colonies would be stopped, and their explotation of mutants would be halted. Milliardo had sworn to it, after his lover had been presumed dead after one mission. Lucrezia would not have admired the cold man he had become in their brief year away from one another, but she would never be around to voice her complaint.

He had been disturbed in his thinking across the globe, by that of a fellow mutant, a teenaged one, and in the colonies, no doubt. It seemed there was on that Kushrenada also hoped to employ. And yet…it seemed that he had information as well. Eyes flying open in surprise, Milliardo snatched at buttons, sending discrete alarms throughout the school that he maintained for public appearances. It brought two to the room; A young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, and a foul-mouthed youth with a braid that nearly reached his knees.

"What's the matter, Milliardo?" asked the blonde, polite as ever, watching with wide eyes at the display panels, and wondering what had caused a summons from their 'Headmaster'. The braided boy, on the other hand, was not so polite in his hello.

"Why the hell are you calling us up here in the middle of the day?" He yawned widely. "I was sleeping in Trig!"

Sparing a disapproving glare at the boy, and motioning the girl forward, Milliardo leaned over her sitting form, and her fingers flew across the keys. "I want you to find this mutant." He said in his rought, deep voice, and Sylvia frowned. Usually missions of this nature were left for night. Duo, however, looked towards Milliardo with a sharp grin, and a twinkle of miscehvious eyes. It was obvious whose skills would be needed here.

"Colony L1, Sector 4, inhabitant section. Living courters nearby indicate middle class families." The blonde reported, typing furiously away at the keyboard as she tried to detirmine who had caught Milliardo's eye, or rather, mind.

"That'll do. Duo, take Quatre with you. I don't want to force this person here, but if he resists, you know what to do." Milliardo instructed, turning away from the computer to stare at his pupil. Duo was an ace pilot, and his mutation might come in handy. Quatre's as well. The arabian boy was another refugee from the colonies' experimentations, as Milliardo knew well about. He dismissed both students, Duo with a stern look, and Sylvia with a clap on the shoulder, as a silent 'Thank You'. Sylvia left wihtout another word, but Milliardo couldn't help a slight groan when he heard Duo's;

"Ha! Another chance to use his jet!"

Away from the illustrious school of learning in the former United States, now part of the United Sphere Alliance, another mutation was beginning to waken. In Lady Anne's School for Young Women, Relena Dorlian was just beginning to finish her morning studies and classes. Etiquette around various forms of nobility and political importance, dancing, and proper appearances were all classes taught at the famed school. Many polished young women arose from the school, and it was well thought of in the highest of social circles. Relena had been forced to go, against her wishes. She felt cramped in such a small school, even though the building was luxurious in size and grounds. Relena often spent time outside, climbing trees to escape from being seen, and often simply strolling around the gardens for hours on end, until the horrendous Matron found her, and scolded her heavily.

Relena sighed, pushing her elbow against the table, and resting her weary head on her outstretched hand. Today was her sixteenth birthday, and not a single of her so-called 'friends' had even remembered. Startled out of her sad thoughts by a question by a teacher, and snickers from students, Relena flushed, and gratingly answered the question. Returning to her studies, she spent the day wearily, almost bored-to-tears with lack of excitement.

She should have asked for a puppy instead.

As if in reply to her thoughts, the fire alarms rang in every room, and a sulphurous smoke descended through the hallways, permeating the classrooms with uneering accuracy. Racing away from the tear gas were teachers and students alike, girl screaming fiercely and shoving for a way out of the smoking building. Relena, caught in a swarm of students, was pushed along the tide, out the doors to see the most remarkable sight she had ever seen.

And the most terrifying.

A woman, silently at attention and proudly erect in her standing, military position glared at the squeeling girls. Relena stared apprehensively at the sight, for the woman stood at least twenty feet in the air, and stood on nothing.

"A mutant?" was the cry around her, and Relena's golden hair spund as she searched around her for a teacher, a small comfort as the woman glared coldly down at them all. Then, a small girl appeared next to the coldly irate person. A slight red head, frail with a heavy cloak over her shoulders, obscuring much else from view. With a devil-may-care grin, the girl produced an arm from the billowing folds of her cloak, and clicked an object.

From such a hieght, Relena couldn't see the object, but when the girl drew a breath and exhaled…

Flames leapt from the sky, increasing in size and strength, and bearing down upon the school. In a flash of heat, the school began to burn.

Waling in increasingly high tones, the various girls of the school began to scream for mercy, until the woman, icy in demenour still, spoke.

"Give me the girl Dorlian." She said, glaring heavily at all who looked at her. When she received silence, she glared even harsher still. "Give her to me!"

It was already stunningly obvious who the 'Dorlian girl' was, because a small circle had already emptied around the poor girl. She stood, wide eyed and frightened, a glare in her eyes as the mysterious woman descended. She landed on the ground, and simply raised her hadn, palm outstretched to aim towards Relena's head. Using her own powers, she fired a pulsation of psionic energy at the girl, making her instantly unconscious. Picking the girl up, amid whispers and glares abound, the two enigmatic women flew up, and away.

**TBC**

Author's Note: Well, how was it? It's almost midnight here, so I've churned this out pretty fast. Expect a fast update, but don't forget to review! And I'm sorry about my other story, I'll continue it as soon as I can!

Disclaimer: Marvel Comics owns the X-Men, and I'm pretty sure that someone else owns Gundam. So I can't claim!


	2. II

Thanks for joining us in the second installation of:

Passions

_By_

_Uplifted_

Duo glared at the moniters in the cockpit of the jet. This expensive piece of crap was the best available! Someone was pulling his braid, and hard too. This thing couldn't fly to Canada and back, much less the colonies! Heaving a huge breath and slumping into the pilot's sleep, Duo glared daggers at the autopilot, currently yammering on about in-flight movies, coordinates and incoming projectiles. After he heard the last one, he shot up in his seat, and Quatre came into the cockpit, face pale and plastered with small droplets of sweat.

"Duo, there's a plane behind us!" He cried, and sank into the co-pilot seat, ready to take defensive actions as soon as possible, waiting for Duo's reaction.

The braided boy lept up, and began pressing buttons and flicking switches, dropping the auto pilot and releasing several anti-aircraft missiles as a warning to the other plane. Thankfully, they received a radio transmission not less than ten seconds later, relaying their destination and apologies for following so closely. Duo grimly nodded at Quatre, and the two silently increased their speed, letting the other vehicle eat intergalactic dust. The two stayed quiet until they came in reach of the busy trade colony. Reducing their speed, the two floated into a docking position, and quietly began to argue.

"We don't know what the hell this guy looks like. I hope it's a girl!" He said suddenly, and Quatre shook her head silently, wondering why he had been assigned with Duo of all people. It was maddening, listen to his chatter. Quatre wanted to cheerfully throttle his partner, until they reached their exit from the shuttle port. Sighing with exasperation, Quatre dragged Duo away from the food stations, and began walking towards the district this intresting mutant resided in.

"Duo, you never stop thinking about girls, do you?" He asked quietly, as the mentioned 'stud' drooled over colony residents that caught his eye. The mischevious teenager winked at the girls, who giggled appreciatively, then he turned back to the disapproving Quatre.

"Aw, c'mon Quat!" Duo moaned, and braced a hand over his head. "Of course I don't." He steadily ate the ground up with his long legs, his face tilted to his walking companion. "Except when there's food." Quatre sighed.

The two bickered amicably as they walked to the living district, only to stop in horror as, minutes away from their destination, an explosion flared up into the sky, causing screams and shrieks of pain to erupt throughout the colony. The two spared a glance to each other, then sprinted, running as fast as they could to the scene of the explosion.

Coughing from inhaling too much of the stinging smoke, and trying diligently to peer through the foggy haze of the stuff, Duo finally lost his patience.

"Quatre, come on!" He said, and grabbed his friend by the hand. In a muted _Pouf_, and a blast of acrid smoke, the two disappeared, only to reappear in the vortex of the flames, surprisingly smoke-less, and heat resistant. The two were confronted with a vision neither of them wanted to believe in, or see.

A tall man wearing a dark burgandy cape and military attire, complete with shiny boots and tailored uniform stood proudly in front of a smaller youth, male with ripped clothing. A forest green tank top was just barely hanging onto his slight frame, though muscles flexed tremendously. The boy was held in the air, arms outstretched by some invisible force. And the youth was a mutant, with steel claws coming from either hand. Quatre stared, terrified, and closed his eyes. A shield of protection surrounded Duo and the blonde boy, blue and radiating power. The tall man noticed the two students now, and laughed as if a good joke had suddenly been told. The man walked to his own helicopter, and the boy in mid-air followed, though his muscles were so taut by then that it was a wonder that nothing had snapped. The beast-like look on the teenager's face made Duo cringe as the helicopter rose into the air, with the laughing man and the captured mutant.

"Damn!" he said as he _Pouf_ed out of the shield after the helicopter's noise had faded away. Quatre's shield melted away, and he stared at the sky of the colonies mutely, wondering how he could have done so little. He, a desert prince, had done nothing as he had watched his greatest enemy haul an innocent away. Duo stomped over to him, and grabbed his wrist. Blinking, Quatre remembered the communicator on his watch, and gave it over to Duo.

"We've got a big problem here, Professor!" Duo said, one hand clasped over his ear that wasn't occupied by the phone. "You-know-who got here before us, and 'recruited' that guy you wanted."

"What?" Quatre winced. He could hear Milliardo's enraged voice all the way over here. He pushed a soot-streaked hand through his blonde locks. This would not be good.

On the helicopter, a certain conversation was continuing between the master of magnetism; Trieze Kushrenada, and Hiro, the captured victem. He growled as any captured animal would as gundanium restraints were placed on his wrists, though he couldn't move as long as he was under Trieze's control. Trieze smiled an enigmatic smile as he watched young Hiro try to force his way out of the metal gloves that were now encasing his claws into his hands. Hiro's deep eyes never strayed from Trieze's own, and the older man found himself amused by the hatred that rose in those depths.

"Come now, Hiro," Trieze said in his deep, melodic voice, as the guards withdrew, and the pilot of the chopper drew closer to the shuttle port. "Surely you won't relish going to Earth on a free ticket?" He said, his tone cool, though the mockery in it was enough to make Hiro snarl. Something about the man brought out the beast in him.

"Let me go, Trieze." He growled out, an tugged at his bonds. "What happened to your ideas of hospitality?" The words dripped with menace, and Trieze couldn't stop himself from smiling. With a flick of his smallest finger, Trieze could decapitate Hiro with his own hand. The thought was amusing to the man, but he schooled his face into a more impressive image.

"Your hospitality will begin when we land. I'm sure you of all people can understand why we leave for earth with you. With your knowledge, and your powers, you could make an incredible asset to our team." Trieze continued, ignoring the look that promised death for him. "Seeing as you are so important to Zechs, why, I'll just have to keep you out of harms way, and under my care." He said nonchalantly, as the chopper landed. Guards surrounded the chained mutant, and Hiro was brought to the plane, walking alongside Trieze, who causally smiled, and waved charmingly to a few people. His influence was well known, though his mutation was not. No one bothered to question why a ragged boy of teenaged years in chains was accompanying him. No doubt it was a spared criminal, and that only increased the finer points of his reputation.

"I will not join you." Hiro muttered under his breath, though he was sure that the other mutant had heard him. Trieze simply smiled another of his enigmatic smiles, and pushed Hiro through the door to the shuttle. Once aboard, the dangerously feral mutant was confined to a separate room. There, he began to think, and to wonder. Only scant hours ago he had been planning another room. Then that man had showed up, with his offer. After turning him down, flames had erupted outside, and he had run outside, only to see his neighbors house engulfed in flames. The little girl who lived there had owned a dog, one who was friendly with Hiro often. He had stared, unable to do anything, as their home had burned. Hiro didn't know if they'd been inside or not, but when he had tried to attack the strange man with his claws, they had twisted, turned back on him. And then he had been lifted into the air as if he weighed nothing at all. That had been where the two strangers had come in. Whoever the were, they came from this 'Zechs'. Tirelessly, he began to marshal his thoughts, thinking through various plans for only one thing. For one thing mattered most at a time like this;

Escape.

: >:

Back at the academy, Milliardo slammed his hands down angrily onto the keyboard, figure radiating irrationality and anger. Damn Trieze! Damn him! Milliardo clenched his fists tightly, trying to control himself. He was alone, for the moment, but that would end soon enough. Quatre and Duo were already on their way back, shaken and angry themselves. Cursing silently, he strode out of the room, and groaned when he came upon Wufei Chang, Trowa Barton, and various underclassmen in a fight. In the hallway. Under his nose!

"Hey, cool it China-man!" one freshmen said jokingly, and Chang's eyes glared. Trowa sighed, and pushed his hair out of the way, allowing his visor-hidden eyes to watch the scene. No doubt the freshmen would need rescuing in a few moments.

"You want cool, freshmen? I'll give you cool!" And with that, the Chinese student slowly incased himself in ice, his skin turning glassy and his features disappearing into the living ice statue he had become. His angry eyes could have melted his new form, and the upraised hands promised icy pain for the younger student, who had gone pale and was attempting to run.

"Wufei!" Barked Milliardo, and the raised hands lowered, albeit very slowly. Wufei glared at his teacher before becoming flesh and bone once more. The freshmen collapsed to the ground in a puddle of fright.

"Injustice." Chang muttered under his breath, and behind his sunglasses, Trowa smiled. It looked like the freshmen would live to see another day. The two upperclassmen walked through the crowds of people who had clammored for a possible fight, and made their way to the man who watched the proceedings with undisguised anger in his gaze.

Seeing the anger, Trowa's thought pattern faltered. It wasn't often that such an expression was on Milliardo Marquis' features. Livid beyond belief was a new one. After Chang and he reached Milliardo, the professor stalked away, silver-blonde hair following him. Chang and Trowa glanced at one another, then followed quickly, aware that what their teacher was about to say was probably something that concerned the secret team of mutant superheroes; The Mutates. Trowa and Wufei were a part of the team, Ice-man and Cyclops. Their missions included the rescuing of mutants and humans alike from a variety of dangers. But the main goal was to recruit new members, teach these new people how to manage their powers properly, then teach understanding and philosophy. Mutants and humans had to learn to coexist in this war-torn world. It was something Trowa had learned early on.

"Meet me at the Briefing Room." Milliardo flung over his shoulder, then stalked away. Trowa stoicly obliged, Wufei following him, still ranting under his breath of the injustices of the world. The familiar tirade almost brought a smile to his face. Wufei was an excellent warrior in the art of fighting, both with his body, and his powers. There were few others Trowa would want at his back.

The silent duo made their way to the room that Silvia had earlier worked in with Milliardo, with Duo watching. Trowa leaned against the wall silently, and Wufei paced as they waited for their Leader to arrive. Trowa was far from the tactition that Quatre was, but his mutant ability was more advanced, so the decisions of missions often fell between the two, with Quatre usually defering to him, unless he knew a better way. There was an amicable friendship between the two, and Trowa felt uneasy without Quatre there. Usually both squad leaders were there, to agree on the decisions made.

"Happen to know where Quatre's gone off to?" He asked Wufei, his eyes still closed behind the visor. Wufei paused in his ranting and pacing, but shook his head firmly.

"I haven't seen that braided baka either." Wufei added, wondering silently if they had gone on a mission without them. Trowa shared his thoughts, and mused quietly, until Milliardo arrived, cool and collected once more. At Trowa's questioning gaze, the man known as Professor under this roof obliged him an answer as he sat down in the large chair that was usually reserved for him.

"Quatre is with Duo; they're returning from the colonies as we speak. They should be here in less than an hour, unless by some miracle that idiot manages to get past-" his curt explaination was cut off as Duo sauntered into the room, keys hanging from his outstretched finger. It had taken some major abuse of the jet's dual rockets, but Duo had gotten them home in record time.

Milliardo scowled.

Quatre walked in, tired yet focused. He sat on one of the chairs that faced Milliardo and Duo sat down as well, a cocky grin on his face in the evident display of his piloting skills.

"Just what is left of my jet?" Milliardo asked, a bit of strain showing on his face as he thought of the expenses that were piling up, thanks to Maxwell.

"Just a few salvageable pieces here and there." Duo said, thinking idyly about food, and his lack of it. "Did I miss lunch?"

"Yes."

"Damn." Duo's mood dropped sufficiently, and both Trowa and Wufei each took a seat, Trowa next to Quatre, Wufei on the other side of the blonde empath. Milliardo frowned at them all, then started talking in a grave tone reserved for the most dangerous of missions. Actually, his tone had been like that far too often since Noin's disappearance. They all knew what had changed this man.

"Today, I received thought on a mutant in the L1 colony cluster who had different waves than that of any ordinary human, or any known mutant. It appears that he has information on the colonies movements and plans for the upcoming war. I sent a team, consisting of Duo and Quatre to retrieve him. I underestimated who would be interested in him. Kushrenada arrived before Duo or Quatre could do anything, and they established contact with me. I withdrew them. Now, team, I present our problem. Trieze has collected more mutants by force then us, simply by being there before us. His intelligence appears to be better than our own. Not only that, but I can find no trace of the man, he's cloaking himself from my thoughts. We must find his base. We must free these mutants that he has captured. This mission sounds impossible, but I have faith in all of you. Who volunteers for this?"

Every student solemnly raised their hand, staring somberly at Milliardo's countenance. It was a mission to be proud of.

"Alright." Milliardo said, and by his tone, they could tell he was suddenly tired. "Trowa, Quatre, stay and let's talk of strategies. Everyone else? Get some sleep. You're excused from further lessons."

Duo and Wufei left, the braided boy pulling on Wufei's short tail on the back of his head, and Wufei calmly freezing Duo's hair into a block of ice. The three mutants left in the room could hear the boy yelling down the hallway for some time.

: >:

When Relena woke up, everything was dark. She squinted at her surroundings, and found herself in an ornate bedchamber. Suspicious to no end now, she stood, and began poking about her prison. The windows were locked and barred, revealing only a bit of landscape; a densly forested area. Fear gnawed at her continuously, until, not long into her poking, she found herself sitting firmly on the floor, legs tucked under her and hands held together in front, as if bound. But if she was, it was the air that binded her. The same cold woman as before marched in, with a charming man behind. The man stared at Relena, and she shivered under his cold gaze. Then he turned around.

"See that she is unable to pick his locks." He said to the guards that filed in behind him, filling the room with their prescence. She gulped as her hands were crudely tied, as if in a leash, then the long part of the rope snaked around one of the posts of her four-poster bed. She remained rigid the whole time, under the telekinesis powers of the cold lady.

"Relena Dorlian. Welcome to my humble abode." He said, and she could hear the mockery beneath his kind tone. "I am sorry for this intrusion of privacy, but we are currently out of space, and another visitor, such as yourself, needs a place to stay. Therefor, he rooms with you." And Trieze thrust Hiro into the room by a strap of his shirt. Hiro stumbled, then rightened himself, refusing to show any weakness to a man like Trieze. Hiro growled menacingly, and Relena found herself staring apprehensively at the boy.

"W-what do you want with me?" she asked, her tone brave but her words weak.

Trieze favored her with a harsh smile that sent another wave of shivers down her spine. Hiro glanced causticly at her, then swung his metal encased hands, using them as a bat at Trieze's face. The cold lady gasped, and flung an arm as if to use her mutant ability, but Trieze hardly blinked and flicked a finger away from himself. Hiro toppled head over heels onto the floor, the metal of his body proving his ruin. Trieze smirked one last time, then swept out the door, with Lady Coldness sending a glare before following Kushrenada.

The heavy door slammed into place as the last guards filed out, and the two prisoners could hear the sounds of it being barred from the outside. Hesitantly, Relena turned to look at her jail mate, who was currently flexing his neck, working out his taut muscles to a loose readiness. Relena shrank from his harsh glare at her, then began working at the knot that bound her hands together. It was slowly draining her hands of circulation, and the rope hurt, twisted so tightly as it was. As Relena tugged ruthlessly at the rope, she sat down on the bed, pulling at the tether that chained her here. She stopped after some time, weary and hurting.

Hiro had done nothing to help her, though he knew he could have. Instead, he formed plan after various plan, trying to escape. Could he? And would he have to bring along Princess there as well? He sighed, but was stirred when he felt her eyes on his form.

"Uh…" she said, when he noticed her stare, "M-my name is R-Relena." She said slowly, stuttering from the look of distaste he wore. "Who are you?"

"One of no concern to you." He said coldly, and returned to his thoughts. Relena sighed, running a comforting hand through her golden tresses as she thought on their prediciment. Would they ever escape?

Then she noticed something.

"Uh… Mister.." She said hesitantly, looking at his concentrating form.

"What?" he snapped, though the question was devoid of emotion.

"There's a … hole in your shirt."

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you like! My sister kidnapped my hamster to make me type this. :Runs to Tao: She's mine!

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. I own the plot, and not much else. Besides my hamster!

**Reviewer Replies:**

**Lost-Remembrance:**

Thank you, dear sister, for being the first to review my story. I appreciate your advice, and will try very hard to keep this updated.

**Don't forget to review!**


	3. III

The third installment of Passions is brought to you by: Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Spoof, collector of Parodies and Fusions alike! And SpoofaCola, the lightest, crispiest taste you'll ever not sip.

Passions

_By_

_Uplifted_

The students at the Peacecraft's Institute of Encouraged Excellence were all either runaways or had been shipped there by ever-loving parents. A few had good backgrounds, good money, and a whole lot of attitude. Most came from middle class families who couldn't afford to send their 'special' child anywhere else. Every child under the roof of Milliardo Marquis, the current holder of the Peacecraft's building, was a mutant; a human born of a genetic abnomally that granted he or she an enormous gift, and a heavy curse. These young teenagers all had powers, all had the knowledge of these gifts. It was no wonder they used them on such a daily basis.

Clenching his teeth in a last ditch attempt to hold in his frustrations, Wufei Chang, a senior at the school, and secretly a member of the school's mutant superhero team, The Mutates, spun to glare angrily at the girl who followed him. She had short, spunky black hair, and her sparkling eyes reminded him of another mutant with whom he had acquaintence. This underclassmen had been bothering him for an hour about the whereabouts of one Duo Maxwell. Hilde, he vaguely remembered her name to be. She had been pestering and badgering, getting in his way countless of times, and she hadn't even resorted to her mutant abilities yet. She grated on Wufei until finally, he turned at her questioning, feminine form, and glared.

As he did so, his eyes became colder, his face loosing it's warm qualities and slipping into solid ice. Ice-man, his codename was, and it described him well.

"Find Maxwell on your own time, little girl!" He fairly yelled, and turned, steaming, to continue on his way with the box of papers he carried for a teacher. Hilde fairly burst into flames of anger at Wufei's brash tones, and she finally stuck her tongue out at him behind his back. Seeing she wasn't getting a response, she opted instead to simply put a spark of helpfulness into him, so to speak.

Gathering her hands together, she produced a small ball of energy, that was quickly thrown at Wufei. It exploded with showers of sparks and much noise. Wufei had jumped from the sudden sound and light, and turned back to see Hilde smiling impishly back at him. So… she created mini-firecrackers. Wufei snorted under his breath.

"Parlor tricks." Then he continued on his way, ignoring the highly annoying onna. Upset at being ignored so completely, Hilde made for Duo's room, hoping to catch him there. He had been disappearing for random reasons a lot recently, and had even run out of trigonometry the other day, giving the harried teacher a curt answer as he had stormed out of the room. Considering that he had been sleeping moments before walking out the door, it was particularily odd. She walked quickly to the boy's dormitory, and knocked on his door. As of yet, Duo had been lucky enough to have a room all to himself. Hilde shared a room with an insane kid that duplicated herself every time she bumped into something. It made for some interesting moments in the morning. Neither were actually good at waking up when one was supposed to for early classes. Hilde waited impatiently as the knock went unanswered, before knocking again, harder. The door opened to her touch. Suddenly deflated of her earlier exuberance in her search for her friend, she stood uncertainly in the hallway, wondering what to do next.

"Duo…?" she called loudly, in the vain hope that he would answer her call. Maybe he was sleeping?

She stepped into the room cautiously and found it to be a complete mess. She shook her head.

'Shoulda known,' she thought as she carefully picked her way through the leftover pizza boxes and clothing articles, all spread sporadically throughout the room. Wincing as she stepped on a piece of molded banana, Hilde wondered vaguely where he could have gone. She had just been talking with him this morning! He wouldn't leave without telling her, would he?

What wasn't he telling her?

: :

Flinging ravishing cornsilk blonde hair over her shoulders, Dorothy Catolonia stared in rapture at the screen depicting the two most note-worthy prisoners in the complex; the mysterious Hiro, and the newly caught Relena Dorlain. Dorothy shook her head, an elegant sneer on her face. It seemed that 'Miss Relena', as Trieze dubbed her, had little to do with mutant society, and secretly, Dorothy even wondered if the girl had any mutation. Hiro, on the other hand, had heightened senses, and a healing factor that could grant him youthful presence until he died of old age! Unless he killed himself within the presence of Ms. Relena, of course. He was glaring so spitefully at her! Dorothy's face twisted into a smirk. Perhaps she could have her own fun. There was absolutely nothing to do, and Marie-maia was being an absolute brat every since that last mission, blathering on and on how she had been the one to set flame to an entire school, she had been the one to accompany Lady Une to Europe. It made Dorothy clench a delicate hand into a fist with anger. Spinning away from the control room with haughty irritation at the thought, Dorothy glanced once more at the cameras that lined the wall. Hiro was ignoring his cell mate. Good. That was good.

: :

Trieze glared contemptously at the man before him, who bowed in abject misery before the mutant, master of all things metal. The poor man had been recruited for information, but had been worthless so many times over that Trieze was beginning to despise the smarming toad. This man, this homo sapien, felt it within his right not to pay his respects before his superior? Mutants were the product of humanity, but they left their parent's far behind in the evolutionary break throught. Mutants, gaingin in number each day, would soon replace humanity. Humans were simply too stupid and careless with the Earth to be left as it's guardians. Mutants would soon reign, with a bit of outside help.

Sighing now, his attention wavering from the sweating man, Trieze signaled for him to report on what he had heard. If it was any use to him, this man might be spared. It depended on the news.

"Sir," the man gasped, and mopped his bald crown with a handkerchief that he had wrung to death in his meaty grip.

"Sir, I've discovered the whereabouts of a school, an academy, full to burstin' of muties and the like." Hearing the slang that had dripped from his mouth, he stepped back, the enigmatically irate face Trieze was throwing him enough to make him wish he hadn't drunken that brandy before coming to report. Trieze ultimately deemed his information worth more than his life, and the man reeled with relief. Panting now, he began again.

"The institute, sir, it's located outside New York's area, and it's said to be owned by the late Peacecrafts, though the man with the deed seems anything but peace-like. It's Leonardo…no, Fabio, ah! Milliardo somethin' runs the place, and it's funded by some sort of business man." He paused at this point, and glanced around the ornate office to reorient himself. Talking to his employer always unnerved him. "Although the building's blueprint at the city library claims it only has three floors, there's evidence to suggest a subterranian basement, though I don't know quite how large that is. Upon the questioning of Milliardo whatsits himself, he said-" He was cut off when Trieze suddenly straightened himself furiously. The pudgy, sweating man stepped back, and pushed his glassed up again.

"You talked with Mr. Milliardo?" Trieze inquired in his soft, dangerously lilting voice. The spy nodded, and watched fearfully as Trieze stepped away from the gleaming mahagony desk that he had been sitting behind and began slowly walking towards Mr. Spy, who had only been doing his job for a few months or so.

"Mr. Jackson," Kushrenada began, in a deadly, soft tone, "I take it you are not familiar with spying, as you've only recently began to work for me in the field of espionage." Mr. Jackson nodded, and wiped at his face again.

"Then you wouldn't know, that a spy is only useful if he remains unknown. Now that you've shown your face," Trieze swept his hand elegantly away from his side. Mr. Jackson suddenly clutched at his chest, his eyes widening precariously and his hands groping for a way to relieve the sudden pressure in his upper torso. He began to gasp in pain, and sank to the floor.

"I believe you recently had a Pacemaker installed. My my, how little it does for you."

"Please…!" he begged, his nasal voice decreasing into a slow whine of mercy.

Trieze lifted his outstretched hand, and slowly tightened his fingers into a taut fist. The man screamed as the small device, fixed to his heart, exploded, causing major coronary damage and an instant heart attack. Mr. Jackson fell to the floor, saliva slowly mixing with the blood that dripped out of his mouth.

"Tsk, tsk. Those things ruin your sleep you know." Trieze said, pushing at the man with one elegantly shod foot.

"Marie-maia!" Trieze called, and the fiery little girl entered, a smug smile on her face. She glanced at the body and giggled a bit.

"You called, Papa?" she asked, the smile remaining and the expression changing from smug to devious.

"Take care of that trash." He said, walking around the body to the door that led out of his office. He exited his office, leaving his daughter with the human waste.

"Honestly, what a mess. Couldn't you have died a bit neater?" she mock-asked the dead man, and sighed. "Well, since Father never said how to do the taking care of, I think we'll do this the simple way." She said, the smile coming back, replacing the annoyance that had briefly marked her face.

Taking out an unlit match, she struck at it, until it burst into flame. Using her mutant powers to embellish the flame and send it down to the dead human on the floor, she was careful not to have the fire burn the floor. Father would be angry if there were scorch marks in his office.

"There's a reason they call me the Flamer." She said with a chuckle, the fire glinting oddly in her eyes.

: :

Hiro was meditating now, in his zen, so-to-speak. The annoying girl hadn't said anything after the embarassingly stupid outburst. His shirt, for Kami's sake! It was riddled with holes and rips since his fight with the ever-hospitable Trieze. But the girl, Relena, wasn't it? didn't seem to be faring badly. She hardly had a scratch on her! She had probably been psyhcicly sedated and kidnapped nice and safely, with no blood loss or fighting of any kind. Hiro sneered quietly, interrupting his meditation for his scathing thoughts. He disliked girls who were defenseless, Princesses like in the fact that they always relied on others. Hiro hadn't seen much to change his impression of her. She just sat there, stupidly looking about in a dopey way, as if the world were at her beck and call, and all she needed to do was ring for a servant.

Turning back to his shackles, he quietly hoped that his neighbors hadn't been harmed in the blast. They had never been good to him, but it wasn't Hiro's way to be entirely unthinking. He did think sometimes of other people, no matter what those useless idiots thought. He futilely tried to bring out his claws, hoping that the force would shatter the metal that kept him a prisoner. Unfortunately, Gundanium was the hardest metal known to man, and had been grafted onto his skeletons as well. He knew their full force, and how much power he'd need to break free. It was a useless attempt, but no one could blame him for trying.

As if to add to his seemingly countless problems, the girl spoke up again, and in an incredibly loud voice.

"I need to go to the bathroom!"

Hiro wanted to slam his head into the wall. No one was going to let her go, and if the girl honestly expected someone to come-

Hiro looked up, surly, unwilling to show his surprise as a guard came in, completely unrecognizable from the rest of his comrades.

"Alright, Miss, you come with me. Spikey there," he meant Hiro, "better stay put, or the girl's toes come off."

Her toes? What kind of idiotic, incompetant guards were these? Relena glared harshly at him, before stomping on his own and yanking at her tether. "Untie me before I really have to go!" the guard, limping over to the girl, cursing under his breath about so and so's orders, untied the girl, and grasped her leash firmly. Looking as if she would rather bite the man then follow him, Relena spared a glance back to the feral boy who crouched on the floor.

And smiled softly.

He was caught off guard by the smile. What did she mean by it? Was it a trap, a ploy of some kind, a signal for the guards to rush over and murder him with their guns?

Hiro's rushing thoughts calmed. He forgot about the smile, as it was obviously a mistake, a trick of his eyes as she had walked out. Was he getting delusional?

He firmly shook the matters of the girl out of his head, and focussed on more important things. Things such as; Why was he being detained here? What use was he to Trieze? Hiro had declined his 'generous' offer to join his terrorist group of mutants, so why was he being kept in this place, with that useless girl?

As Hiro thought in endless circles, like a hamster on a wheel, Relena glared at the back of the guard, who was dutifully leading her to a bathroom. As she stepped inside, she looked back at him. If looks could kill, this man would still be alive, but just barely.

"Don't. Come. In." Like she wanted a man watching her pee? She shivered at the thought, as soon as she was alone. Ah, blessed alone time. Away from the silent boy of thoughts. She had glimpsed his face, and it had looked so trapped in their present setting that she had to smile at him. And his look of surprise had been satisfying too. She splashed water onto her face from the faucet, and winced at it's coldness. They had to be in a place where plumbing wasn't all that it used to be. Startled, Relena glanced at her reflection. The girl who gazed back hadn't been in this place for more than three days, only two at the latest. How had such things happened in such a short amount of time?

The gravity of the situation seemed to hit both teenagers hard. Grateful that the nameless boy wasn't there to see her fall apart, she quickly washed her hands, trying to relish the feel of soap. She didn't really have to go to the bathroom. She had wondered at her station in such a place. Now she knew. A Prinsoner/Guest. She sighed, and idled her time, trying not to annoy the guard, but enjoy her few moments alone.

Relena walked into the room she shared with Hiro, and the door closed behind her. She had an odd expression on her face, one Hiro hadn't missed. What was wrong with her now? He barely had time to think before she accidentally-on-purpose tripped and fell on him.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, her eyes trailing over his body sensusously, her thoughts obviously on something other than apologies. She watched his startled face closely, and the when it seemed she could do nothing worse, she kissed him firmly on the lips.

Hiro, far from rational thoughts, was shocked. This girl didn't even know his name, and was throwing herself over him!

"Mmf off." He said, only the last cold word coming out intelligently, because she had released his strangle hold on his mouth.

Then she smiled seductively, and drew herself off of him. Then, the door opened, and she slipped out, blonde hair waving behind her.

Only to be pushed into the room a few scant seconds later by the unruly guard. He tied her up, ignoring Hiro's glare and Relena's equally heated gaze, then exited the room Relena slumped to the floor carefully, mindful of the camera that she could see above the feral boy.

"What…the hell…was that?" He asked in a low growl, startling Relena like a caught deer. It was the first words he had spoken to her.

* * *

Author's Note: Ha! My own little cliffhanger! I hope you like, and wait around for the next chapter of the highly thrilling, death-defying: Passions!

Disclaimers: I own the plot, and some minor characters who, unfortunately, die. :Boo-hoo: And I own a few of the codenames. And, and! My hamster, and the two new books of W Juliet! One of the best shojos since Hot Gimmick!)

**Reviewer Responses**

**LostRemembrance: **Thank you for the next review, Sis. She's been making me write into the late night. I haven't slept, thanks to her. :Yawns: But at least I got this up!

**Elthil:** Thanks for your advice! I've started putting in little marks, and it's made things a lot easier. Any advice for plots, characters, etc? I'd love to hear them! I hope you continue reading!

**WolfCry17:** Well, Wufei's cool for ya! Hope you keep readin' an' reviewin'!

**Sora the Taske:** I hope I keep your interest! Thanks for the review!


	4. IV

Thanks for waiting for the fourth (Wow! Four chapters!) Installment of:

Passions

By

Uplifted

"Okay folks, operation: Rescue the Mutants is ready to load!"

"Duo, shut up."

"What? C'mon have a little sense of adventure here! We're flying to the antartic plain, and barging into Trieze's abode, a master mutant, to steal some small-fry mutant who was stupid enough to get caught. What fun is it if I don't spice it up a notch?"

"Maxwell, if you don't put that camera away, I will freeze your braid once more. Solid."

"Wufei! It'll take months to regrow this kind of hair!"

"Then put. It. Away." The chinese mutant growled.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh." Duo said, putting away the device and settling into his seat. Trowa was flying, as commander of this Op (Operation), and Quatre was sending coordinates back to Milliardo. They were in complete costume for the event, even Duo had donned his uniform as the codenamed 'Shinigami'.

Wufei's costume consisted of a black bandana over his head, and loose black pants. He wore no shirt, as he was always in ice-form when on a mission. Wufei had been found in a starving village in China. His talent's hadn't been discovered yet by the government, who would have likely shipped him away to a lab somewhere. Instead, he had been offered to join the academy under Milliardo's guidance. Convincing his family had been particularily easy, and they enjoy the enormous amounts of money he sent home, his wages from a night job in the city. He had often thought of returning to China, to his fiance and family, but he enjoyed his time in America, the freedom, and his so-called 'friends'. Though Maxwell could just be there for his annoyance.

Quatre wore a slim-fitting dark blue sleeveless shirt, tunic like in it's shape, composed of a material stronger than kevlar, yet lighter than cotton. It's unstable molecules, designed exclusively for the Mutates and worn by them all, allowed it to fit any form. Around the blonde boy's wrists were large cuffs, gauntlets almost, that helped amplify Quatre's energy using powers. He wore tight, comfortable black pant with knee-reaching boots, the same dark blue color of his shirt. 'Seer' was what he had decided on for a codename, and it fit him well, for although he had been gifted with the 'sight' to see his friend's emotions, he could also see what most affected them, and what most defined them.

Trowa wore a figure-fitting suit of the material, reaching from his fingers to his slim boots. A belt of many compartments was looped loosely around his wasit for the use of a variety of things ranging from bandaids to sulphuric acid. His hair, as always, draped over one eye and obscured the visor that covered his high powered optic blasts. He had suffered head trauma as a child, and as a result, could not control his own powers. Thankfully, Milliardo had created a visor of a special stone, enabling him to open his eyes without the repercussions of a force that could punch through steel.

Duo wore baggy black pants, held up by a belt similar to Trowas, and a long sleeved dark blue shirt, covered by a tight black one. He wore fingerless gloves, and his long braid swung on his back, a nusiance in battle, but the boy refused to cut it off. Duo's abilities to transport people, and teleport to various places only applied to places that he had been, or places he could see. If he tried to go somewhere he couldn't see, or had never been, he might teleport into solid concrete, or too far away. It wasn't a finite art, but it was one Duo was familiar with. The braided mutant grinned, fanged canines catching the glint of the artifical light in the jet. His fanged mouth had often been remarked upon by other students, and he had been given the nickname, 'Devil', around the campus, which was a definite change from his battle codename, 'Shinigami'. The God of Death.

"Okay guys, we're closing in on the target. ETA- 10 minutes." Came Trowa's voice, cold and somber, even as the other occupants in the plane secretly grappled with their mixed emotions. A kind of tension descended on the group, and Quatre leaned back, and drew the anxiousness, agitation and nervousness into him, using his own mutant powers to create a battle peace for the group. It had worked before, and calmed everyone.

"Thanks, Seer." Trowa said, a bit less harshly. It was known that the two of them were close friends, though the entire group were all friends. The group couldn't have maintained a sense of victory if they hadn't been close.

"No problem, Cy." Answered the blonde, and Duo grinned. The four prepared themselves, as the jet tipped downward, cloaked and invisable as it descended on the enemy as a hawk to a petrified hare. But does a hare usually have weapons of mass destruction?

:>:

"What…? W-what are you talking about?" Relena scuttled as far as her leash would allow to get away from the glaring monster that her cellmate had transformed into. Her confusion had escalated to fear after his question, he had stood and demanded an answer to her actions. But what actions were he talking about? Could he have known…? The little piece of sharp metal she had taken from the bathroom, the 'knife' she was going to use to cut her bonds?

"Just who the hell are you?" He growled, his voice low and gutteral, a natural snarl rising up his throat. The hairs on the nape of his neck stood up, a sure sign that something was happening that he didn't know about, or understand. Then he forced away the ferality that had always been his nature, and cautiously sniffed in the direction of the girl-Relena, whatever her name was. No…it was a different scent.

Stiffening after realizing that he was sniffing her, her first reaction was to be outraged. But by then, she knew that he was a mutant. Perhaps that was part of his mutant abilities, a hieghtened sense of smell?

Relena was correct, though she was only guessing. Hiro knew now that they were employing a shapeshifter in their ranks, meaning that as long as he held onto the scent of the other thing, he could recognise her, or him. People's forms could be changed, but scent always remained the same. He knew that somehow, from his time in the lab. He couldn't block out what he knew, but now, the information was coming in handy. A few seconds happened in absolute silence, until Hiro snapped his arms apart, trying to break the metallic gloves. His muscles, thick as cables, strained inhumanly as he tried to break free. The time for thinking was gone. The time for action was now. As if on que, the floor rocked. Relena's eyes widened in surprise, and she struggled to keep her footing, managing instead to fall on her knees. Hiro remained standing, immovable by the brief quake.

"What was that?" Came a quivering voice, and Hiro turned to upraise the girl. As he stared at her, Relena noticed that the camera's angle couldn't see her as long as his head was thusly, directly in the camera's view.

"Please…don't move…." She whispered, and hesitantly brought out the scrap of sharp metal she had broken off. Displaying it to him, she realized that she was admitting he was an accomplice, a maybe friend? She wouldn't leave him here, she trusted him, a bit. But he scared her, with his quiet intensity. She began to saw at the leash that held her to the bed, not looking again at the boy. He had remained still, but for how long? How much could he be trusted?

Finally, with a snap and a twist, her hands were free. She rubbed the vigorously, trying to get some blood flowing in her pale, cold hands. She looked at Hiro, and her glance held questions.

"I doubt that bit of metal will get me free of this." He answered curtly, his head remaining still, blocking her freedom from the camera. The former quake was forgotten, but not for long. Hiro's nose sniffed, and he recoiled, relaxing into a fighting stance, revealing Relena to the world, in her freedom. Though…she wasn't. She had quickly wrapped a bit of the rope aroudn her wrist, and Hiro's warlike mind had quickly added up her uses. Her gold hair flashed at him as she bent her head to hold the rope more firmly, and he snorted. He might as well take her with him. If Trieze wanted her, then she must be someone in this crazy world worth something.

They had prepared themselves in the nick of time. A pair of highly armed soldiers walked into the room without announcement, and behind them came the thick, swirling miasma of smoke. Hiro's lethal face stretched into an unreadable mask. It had been an explosion they had felt, not an earthquake. Hiro moved first, knocking the first one out with a punch of the metal gauntlets to the stomach. The gun fell from his hands and discharged, sending a round of bullets into the bed. Relena screamed and ducked, effectively distracting the second guard, who fell with a heavy hit to the head. Peeking from under her hands, she saw the fearsome Hiro standing over the bodies of the two guards and gulped. He glanced at her, then motioned to one of the guards, who had what appeared to be the keys. She ran over, hastily pushing off the ropes that she had held in the pretence of being a captive still, and grabbed the metal things, trying one after another in the metal encasings that covered Hiro's hands. He growled as one after another, they fell away, useless. He ripped his arms away from Relena's grasp, and grunted towards the open door.

"There'll be reinforcements soon. We have to go now." She nodded to his strong words, and they left quickly, neither one looking back.

:>:

Trieze couldn't believe it. He laughed at the computer screens, as they unfolded before him. Milliardo was actually sending his team of mottly mutants to get his prizes, the ones he needed for his conquest. He watched as they destroyed his outer hatch with a well aimed blast of optic power, and he glared as the Ice boy froze all his supporters, and weakened his building by freeze blast after freeze blast to the supports of the structural foundations. If nothing was done, then the little group of children would thwart his beautiful plans. They just didn't understand, he sighed, wondering how such naïve children could rebel against such a beautiful dream of equality. The mutants would reign supreme eventually, power always ruled over the weak. The weak, the _Homo Sapiens_ had long walked the Earth, destroying it in the process. Well, _Homo Superior_ would recitify their mistakes. His long grin, born of his thoughts, was wiped away in an instant as he saw the flashing red indicator that was implanted in the captured mutant flicker quietly on the screen, heralding an escape. He scowled as he stalked furiously out of the control room. Who had let them escape? His cold fury stopped Dorothy, as she exited the room adjecent to his.

"What is it, Trieze?" She asked, luxurious hair falling behind her in one fell wave. He barely spared her with a glance, but the coldness in the look froze her. His words, chipped and icy, called back to her shocked form.

"They're getting away. I want them caught, at any cost. Now."

She left immediately, form rippling along the way.

:>:

"Okay, everyone ready?" Asked Quatre, who had encased everyone in a separate shield, bullet proof and glowing an incandescent blue. Trowa's enabled him to shoot his own powers, the same applying to Wufei. Duo's followed him as he teleported, and allowed him to shoot out of the tranquilizer/shock gun he had brought along. His ability extended to teleportation, not a very decent offensive mutation. They were worming their way through the fortress, and it was indeed a formidable castle of soldiers and recruited mutants. It had taken them fifteen minutes to get through the outer doors, and it had ended only with Trowa's eyes blasting a hole into the gigantic door. He claimed it was only because of Duo's incessant complaining of the cold.

The four battled continuously, acrobatics and martial arts, street fighting to battle statistics. They were well into the fortress before Quatre's protective bubble popped as carelessly as a soap bubble, and the blonde empath clutched his head. Trowa hurried forward, as did Duo, to catch the teenager as he fell, while Wufei simply watched their backs. They were in a deserted hallway, and were close to their goal; When he opened his eyes, Quatre could feel the two mutants, running steadily away from a group of menacing soldiers, until they were surrounded.

"We've got to hurry, guys!" He cried, and struggled forward, his two teammates releasing him carefully. All four raced flat out now, with Iceman skating easily on a wave of ice he held command over. It was particularily easy to create ice in this facility, surrounded by it on the antarctic plane. Seer managed to block the blinding migraine he was having, and Shinigami was fervantly wishing that he knew where they were so they could teleport to the place, to help the mutant with the metal, the one he and Quatre had seen together on an L1 colony, bravely facing Trieze with murder on his face.

Cyclops' mind was a blank, as he too raced with the others, his lithe form keeping easily with the stringent pace. His eyes always roamed, always sought, what they were looking for. He was the first to see the wall of flame, and the first to respond, as the heat shot at them, with a burst of optic blast. Seer automatically brought up a wall of energy, blocking most of the flames, but it took it's toll on Iceman, who was forced to regulate his own temperature, and consistantly control it. The flames licked his sides, and he shot a wall of ice into the steady flames. They could hear a childish giggle of glee behind the wall of fire, and Trowa gritted his teeth. The fire was constant, but could be put out, if they concentrated enough. But suddenly, with a muted _Pouf_, Duo was no longer with them, leaving behind a stink worthy of a devil. They strained their ears, as they heard the giggle stop midway, and a shriek that halted as well. The flames disappeared, licking silently at the sides of the hallway, and The three made their way forward, most of them panting, but giving Shinigami a congradulatory pat on the back all the same. Duo beamed, and then watched his friends, carefully.

"D'you guys think we're up for this? We're almost there, but we're gonna have to go back, y'know." He uttered simply, watchfully gathering the small girl, Flamer, into his arms, and depositing her on the side of the hallway. It was against the Mutate's code to kill an enemy. That would make them no better than Trieze's outfit. Duo's question remained unanswered, until Trowa straightened his back, and silently stared at their team. Then he forged ahead, leaving a grinning Dup, a following, but silent Wufei, and an exhausted Quatre. As an empath, he could easily pick up where the mutants were. And it seemed, they were in a pinch of trouble.

:>:

Bullets screamed in the air, and men crumpled to the floor in a bloody mess as Hiro dispatched each one. Relena no longer had the instinct to check and see if they were dead or not. She had helped as best she could, but her fighting skills were virtually nil, and it was left to the warrior of the two, the Hiro, to get the them out to safety. Just as the battle seemed to be over, a man snuck behind the mutant, busy grappling with another soldier, and struck him on the head. Relena let out a horrified screech, and leapt up to help Hiro, but it was not needed. Sending a glare that told her simply to 'stay put', he swung his arms as a club once more, and hit the man's 'family jewels'. Mouthing wordlessly, the man sank into pain induced unconsciousness. After knocking the last man out, he stepped over to Relena, and sat quietly. Battling with no hands, with little energy, and no idea of how to escape was beginning to take its toll on the Gundanium implanted mutant. But he would keep going, if not for his sake, for hers. He struggled to his feet, ignoring the twinges of pain, and waited for her to follow. As he sniffed down a fork in the hallway they were following, a dark laughter echoed over the halls, frightening Relena, and causing her to grip his shirt tightly. Glancing over his shoulder at the scared girl, Hiro noticed that she was wearing a uniform of a long skirt, and a heavily embroidered blouse. So, here was a rich girl, kidnapped most likely because Trieze had an altercation with her father? Or was she what Trieze wanted?

And why had Trieze wanted him? Because he was a skilled assasin? Because of his abilities? Somehow Hiro doubted it was so.

"Come on. We've got to keep moving." He said, ignoring the laughter that rang down the hallway. He chose one, on the smell. A light smell, but with a bit of ash to it. A fire had recently happened? Hiro didn't know. But there was little heat, only cold metal that surrounded them. Would they ever escape this hellhole?

As if on cue, an icy wind blew at them, forcing them into the other tunnel, and blowing them fiercely down the hallway. Relena's scream echoed eeriely with the hollow laughter, and Relena blindly reached out to someone, to anyone. Hrio caught her hand, and grabbed an open doorway, his precarious hold on both slipping. Growling with exertion, he threw Relena into the room, and hauled himself out of the icy air, closing the door with a snap.

Without the howling of the wind, the only noises were the gasping of breath from Relena, and the quiet panting of Hiro. The small room, previously dark, was suddenly lit with hundreds of lights, effectively blinding the two. Relena rubbed at her streaming eyes, and Hiro blinked slowly, willing his eyes to accustom themselves to the new light. When the spots had finally faded, Hiro's pantings immediately ceased, and escalated into animalistic growls. Relena, still blinded, averted her face from whatever Hiro was growling at. But soon, the riddle was revealed to her.

"Why, dear Hiro, I'm amazed you and the girl made it this far. You surpassed even my expectations, and I'm very proud of you both. Now, my men will escort you back to-"

"What the hell are you doing, toying around with us, Trieze?" came words from the growl, as Hiro held his arms up threateningly. Trieze's earlier anger resurfaced, and the groaning of metal, a screech no human ears should ever hear, sounded throughout the tiny room. Blinking tiredly, Relena saw Hiro's body arched in such an unnatural way, that her heart lurched, and her stomach rolled.

"Stop it! What do you want!" She cried, and ran in front of Hiro, as if to somehow stop these torturous events. The evil mutant's eyes immediately calculated this, and Trieze broke off his control of Hiro's body, only to reinsert himself, by making Hiro's arms move on their own. He clenched his teeth, fangs snaping together as Hiro fought the control over his body. But to was to no use, as his metallic arms incased Relena's, holding her in a tight headlock. The stranglehold, and Hiro's taut readiness under Trieze's unwanted command, quieted Relena. She held onto his arms fruitlessly, to stem the decrease of oxygen to her throat. Slowly, she was finding it harder and harder to breathe, as Trieze made his arms tighter by every few seconds. He grinned, catlike in his enjoyment, and was watching intently when the doors flew open.

The Mutates, in all their ragged glory, saw only that Trieze was lounging there while their rescuers were trying to seemingly kill each other. Duo cocked the gun, and yelled, firing at Hiro, while Trowa fired a blast at Trieze.

The bullet pierced into Hiro's upper arm, lodging itself deeply into the muscles of his upper arm.

"No!" Relena cried, as Trieze's hold snapped, and She fell to the floor. Hiro swayed, then landed on his knees. Trieze, Trowa and Wufei began a heated battle, Ice shards, metal scraps and optic beams exchanged increasingly over the next few minutes, until suddenly, an alarm went off, and Wufei fell to the floor, clutching an icy side, imbedded with some shrapnel. Dup had gaped, dumbfounded as the pretty, gore covered girl tenderly checked the 'bad guy's' arm. Quatre had encased the three in a bubble.

"C'mon you two! We're getting out of here!" The structure was weakened, by Wufei, and the consistant fighting. It was falling apart. Trieze glared spitefully, enraged at the Mutates.

"I will get them back! I will get Zechs, and you pathetic traitors! You will rue the day-"

His anger fueled ranting ceased as the other two climbed into the bubble, and Duo teleported them all with a muted Pouf to the Jet. The ground shook as Duo carried the now-unconscious Relena, Trowa helped a limping Hiro, and Quatre aided a cursing Wufei into the Jet.

As the plane took off, and the structure exploded, no one thought, upon looking at the burning sky, that this was only the beginning. Trieze was dead, after all, wasn't he? The mutants were safe, they were going home, what could possibly be wrong now?

* * *

**Reviewer Responces**

**Lost-Remembrance: **I won't let you read ahead if you keep closing the computer window! Sheesh.(xP) But thanks for the review!

**Artgirl150:** I like the name! But other than that, I think your questions are answered her, for the most part.(:o) And don't tell her that! She'll lock me up, and take away my poor pet!

**darkfairy88:** Don't go blind, waiting for an update! I'm really sorry I made you wait, but here it is!

**Elithil:** My email doesn't work, but I would DEFINITLY appreciate any and all plot ideas that anyone has for me. You can put it, right here, in the comment boxy. (xD)

**Lost-Redemption:** Hmmm. I wonder who that could be. (...) Thanks for the review, sis! I look forward to more Moonshine and Blau Augen!

TBC

Author's Note:

Hey Everyone! Sorry it took such a long time to update. But here it is, and a long one too! The next chapter should be up soon, and by soon I mean within a week, I hope! W Juliet 4 came out, and it was most excellent! I encouraged anyone to Read it!

Well, here's a preview for the next chapter:

Relena and Hiro settle into life at the Peacecraft Institute, but why is Milliardo avoiding these new students? Why is Hilde pulling such pranks on Relena? And why, why does Hiro have that scar on his back? Will the answers be solved in the next installment? Find out, on the next exciting episode of:

Passions!


	5. V

Chapter Five ( Is Agog!)

Passions

By

Uplifted

Hiro stirred from the deep, intoxicating slumber that the drugs had gifted him for at least a few hours. He simply lay on the bed, reveling in the clean, crisp sheets, and the plain, white ceiling. His brain slowly came back to full function, and he glanced around his room, the actions and memories of the past few days catching up with him. His fists clenched, remembering the climactic end, and of Treize's final words. But were they final? Hiro sincerely doubted that the madman had died. Crazzies had a habit of not dying when they were supposed to, especially when they had the mutant power to control anything metal. Including him. Openly grimacing, Hiro's claws were unsheathed, and he stared moodily at the metal. His body had betrayed him, lending Treize the power to capture, and hold him. And another. Glancing around the room, his head lurched to find a golden halo of hair plopped on the bed, next to his chest. And the head was attached to a body. Grunting with the effort of getting up, Hiro sat up, then gently rubbed his wrists. After the jet, and the people who had rescued them, had landed in Manhatten it had taken two full hours of sawing, hacking and cursing to get the metal cuffs off his battered hands. He had suffered from two fractures, one in his left arm, one hairline fracture in a leg, and the bullet had to be dislodged of course. The doctor, he vaguely remembered, wanted him to stay in the hospitalized version of the large house, or manor, at least for the night. But he had refused, and looked instead to the blonde female, to whom he felt at least a bit known, having been cell mates for God knew how long. But his arm was in a plaster cast, the same could be said for his leg, and his upper arm was bandaged to the extreme. He would live. The girl, asleep at the foot of his bed, with her head propped against the mattress, looked far from comfortable, but it had been her decision to fall asleep there. He gingerly stepped out of the bed, and managed to walk to the window, where he could at least view his surroundings. He sheathed his claws, and glared at the happy sun, the freshly mown lawn blaring green at him. The garden was a bit hectic, but there was a sparklingly clear pool, white lawn chairs, and a large patio for outside recreation. The one called 'Ice-man' he recalled, was outside, reclining in a chair, and reading a thick tome. Several teenagers were swimming and/or playing in the pool, but he didn't pay any attention to them. Hiro was feeling a bit anxious, truth be told. He let nothing show, of course, but it had been over twenty four hours since they had arrived, and no host had yet to be shown, no one identified themselves as being their rescuer. It was a bit disconcerting.

"So you're awake."

Hiro turned at the words, his acute hearing registering the voice as that of the mutant with the fangs, and the long braid. But the cocky teenager wasn't talking to him. He was talking to the girl, who had, obviously, woken up. His gaze met hers, unflinchingly, until she turned to the Shinigami with a sleepy question in her eyes.

"H-hello…" She said said softly, and rubbed her eyes blearily. If her Matron had seen her, she would have been smacked. She straightened at the thought, and stood. Both of the escapees were exhausted, fatigued with their onslaught throught Treize's fortress, but Hiro more so. Relena didn't even know if she was a mutant.

"So, you guys wanna meet up with the Prof? 'Cause he's a pretty buzy person, running this whole school, and the founder of our little study group." He wrapped his arms around the back of his head and winked at the girl. She was pretty, in a way, and appealed to Duo. But Hilde would be furious if she caught him with these thoughts. He liked his lonely time, and she appreciated that, but the lies between them could break them apart in the end. He was, after all, a member of one of the most well-known superhero teams since the Avengers, though not quite as popular. Mutants all over were regarded as trash, as useless rabble that were the mistakes of Mother Nature. But the Mutates were there to see things through for the future generation, and that was where the hopes were pinned. Pulling himself back to the present, Duo grinned cheerfully at the silently injured boy, and the curiously inquisitive girl.

They followed him out of the room, and they were off, walking down the plush carpeted floor. Hiro barely limped, though he received plenty of stares. He glared back at many of them, and neglected to notice the interested gazes of several girls, a blue eyed-blonde among them. Relena's meek gaze was on the floor, a rather uncommon event for her, but the entire situation had sudden been thrust upon her, and she was too tired to try and pretend. She was exhausted, and alone. Everything familiar was at least an ocean's length away, along with a few thousand miles. But she snuck a sidelong glance at Hiro. His family (did he have one?) and his memories were all millions of miles away, orbiting the Earth. The thought strengthened her weakening resolve, and she walked the rest of the way, head held high. Duo glanced back, to see how the two were hold up under such strange conditions, and was met with a happy surprise. His fellow students, who usually couldn't contain themselves, were all wary, staying away. Maybe it was the dangerous glare that Hiro was sending, but Duo also fancied it was the very poised and lethal walk of the rescued mutant.

"C'mon guys, Prof never likes to wait, I should know." He called over his shoulder, and then the three had turned a corner, and disappeared around a corner.

Meanwhile, in the office the three were walking to, Milliardo was pacing. Just seeing her unconscious form was enough for him to stiffen in concern, it was almost a repeat of his loss of Lucreazia. A loss of one, a welcome of another. But could it really be…? His musings were stopped short by the click of a lock, and the opening of a door handle. Duo was cheerfully opening the door, and talking animatedly to the girl on the other side, when all three walked into the room. Hiro looked detached, almost bored by his surroundings, and Relena stared paitently at the blonde man. Duo lounged on one of the chairs that was situated next to a wall, evidently to watch the proceedings. Milliardo cleared his throat nervously, and sat down at his desk. The overall impression of the room helped his reputation as a stern task master, with the soft wooden chairs, comfortable yet simplistic, a few green, potted plants that needed to be watered, and bookshelves that were stuffed to the brim.

"Welcome to the Peacecrafts Institute of Encouraged Excellence. Of course, I realize that you've been through a lot in the last few days, but now, you can finally have a bit of peace." His raspy, warm voice was balm to Relena, sandpaper to Hiro, who recognized the military command beneath the teacher's voice. Yet, he stayed calm, and settled in to his standing position, waiting to hear the offer. But his attention was also caught by the birds, and the natural grass, the blue sky.

"My name to you is Professor Marquis, though some prefer to call me simply, the 'Prof'." He said with a sideglance to Maxwell, who grinned. "As you probably already know, this is an establishment for the freedom and prosperity of mutants. We help runaways, we train them to understand the power they've been gifted with, and sometimes, we invite them to join the task force that we - I – have assembled over the years. The Mutates help abroad, in outer space, and even on the earth. This is the home base, but we're not the only mutant organization, as I'm sure you already know. Treize, the self proclaimed master of magnetism, formed the Brotherhood, a collection of mutants with the intense hatred for humanity, those that scorned them. I'd like to say that it's completely different here but I'm not entirely naïve." After he said this, a rueful grin slipped off his lips, his icy eyes sorrowful. "I'd like to see us as the light, and he as the darkness, but even he has some point of truth on his side. Well, I'm getting off topic here. I know it's sudden, but we'd like to offer an invitation to join our Institute. Treize is after you. I know," he held up a commanding hand when Duo started to protest, "you believe he died. I know better. He's out there somewhere, and wherever he is, you are important to his plans."

"But why?" Relena cried out, interupting Milliardo's speech. "I'm not even a latent mutant, the X gene wasn't detected when they tested me at birth, and now you're telling me that some genious criminal mastermind is after us. But, there's no reason for him to be! Why does he want us?" In the silence after her sudden outburst, no one spoke. The emotion behind her words had gathered tears to her eyes. She was only sixteen, had only been that old for a few days at the very most. And…did her father know where she was? She couldn't speak, and just turned her head, allowing her fallen hair to hide her face.

"We don't know his plans yet, but we're working on that," Prof said, his icy eyes chipping at the tears in hers. How long had it been….? He mentally shook his thoughts away, as he focussed on the three that demanded his attention.

"But we extend an invitation to stay here, to let us guard you. We will ensure the propriety of this school to whatever parental figures, and at the same time, insure your safety, and education." The last bit was added wryly. He was sure school was the last thing on these young people's mind. Relena was still in her battered uniform, though Hiro had been given a tee shirt, and sweats.

"Why is Treize collecting mutants, unless to command an army of them?" Interupted Hiro, a shrewd look on his face as his gaze swept to Milliardo's. Relena stared at the two, and sank into one of the plush armchairs in front of the teacher's desk. No doubt there for troublesome students, like Duo. Hiro's intent gaze never left Milliardo's, but he knew the whereabouts of everyone in the room, especially the girl. Like it or not, he had formed some sort of connection with her. And he didn't like it. She was a complete stranger, even though there was a slight pull to her that he felt no obligation towards. Perhaps things would explain themselves in time.

* * *

TBC

Author's Note: I realize this is the shortest chapter, but not to fear, it's only the first part! It was a bit long, so I decided to split it up. I'm so sorry! . Part Two will be out fairly soon, and in the meantime, I need you, the reviewer's help.

What sort of romatical pairing are you interested in? I'm personally not a fan of 1x2. I don't write it, nor do I read it, but that's simply a matter of choice. I think it takes a brilliant author to pull such a relationship off, that's all. So… Should it be HiroxRelena? Or someone else with our mysterious maybe-mutant. And if you guess which mutant she is, you can have a plot cookie! (By which meaning, if you want a particular scene, you tell, and I'll write! ))


	6. VI

Chapter 5.5 (Hee!)

By

Uplifted

Milliardo leaned back in his chair and sighed. They had been arguing for a bit; Duo had already fallen asleep, snoring loudly in his comfortable chair. Relena had long since stopped talking. Her exhaustion was visible now. Hiro still glared, his hostility stemming from the blatent refusal to allow Hiro to leave. Hiro himself had little doubt that he couldn't escape; nothing could hold him for long. But the Professor was adamant in his staying at this Institution. If Treize wanted him, bullocks to the rest of the world. He was important enough to stay here.

"Please," the Professor said wearily, the argument taking a toll on his reserves. "I'm asking you, Hiro. Stay with us. Perhaps," he added wryly and a bit slyly, "we can do something about that memory problem of yours."

What happened next was too fast for anyone to see. Relena screamed as suddenly Hiro had pinned Professor Marquise with one gundanium claw to the jugular. The Professor coldly gazed back into the youth's hot temper, as Duo shot up with a yell from his nap. But Hiro's body was once again betraying him. What was that voice in his head? Why….why had he retracted his claws and stepped away, meek as a stupid little school girl?

"That's better, Mr. Yui." Prof's own mind reeled from the contact with Hiro's. It was so confused, so cluttered, that there was hardly any room for thoughts that weren't related to violence, or…

War. The thought made him shiver uncontrollably, and the air was filled with a thick tension.

"What just happened? What did you do to me?" demanded the indignant, animalistic mutant. Hiro's own fangs were bared, and his hair visibly stood on end at the presence of another in his mind. "What kind of mutant are you? What do you know about my past?" he demanded, his voice barely raised above a low, gutteral growl. Prof sighed, rubbing his temples to ease away the oncoming migraine. The images of brutality, Hiro's memories, had been black and white, fuzzy, as if something or someone was inhibiting his own mind. Prof shook his head, silvery hair flowing off his shoulder. His piercing gaze glared at the two before him, as if he had shaken off his own troubles and migraine in that shake of the head.

"Your questions will be answered in short time," he said to Hiro, "if you stay. Will you?"

Hiro turned his head, neither affirming, nor disaffirming his position. Relena gazed silently, her bones heavy with exhaustion still. Milliardo turned his head to look at her, though his gaze seemed to rest on the back of her chair, rather than herself.

"And you?" he asked in his gravelly voice.

"I'll need my father's approval," she said, staring at the phone on his desk. "Can I still call him?"

With a firm shake of the head, her silent hope was crushed. "Under no circumstances are you to be in contact with anyone from your old life. Treize is still alive; I can feel it. We need to keep you two safe. I will discreetly contact your father. You two need to focus on keeping yourself out of Treize's hands."

"I can keep myself free just fine." Hiro said with a backwards growl and a raising of claws. Milliardo failed to be intimidated from the threat, and instead he raised one of his own hands. The mental telepathy behind it seeped into Hiro's mind.

"You can only fight so many people at one time, Hiro Yui."

Hiro retracted his claws, and Relena stood from the chair she had been resting in. Duo, uncustomarily silent, walked them both out of the office, but not before Milliardo had called after them;

"Take them to the med lab. Get some tests run!"

: :

Relena was almost walking on Hiro's feet, she was so close behind them. The metallic halls reminded her so much of Treize's compound that she inadverdently clung to Hiro's shirt. Hiro subtly turned his head and continued following Duo. They were in the subbasement of the school and headed to the medical bay, where Hiro had heard about 'some tests.' He could only assume what that meant.

Duo was jovial, cheerful and jaunty down the hall, pushing various buttons. The doors would slide open, slide close, and Duo would be on his merry way. When they finally reached the actual door they were supposed to go through, Relena walked past it, assuming it to be another of Duo's open/shut acts.

"Okay!" he said with a loud cheer that rang off the walls. A blonde woman, two braids cascading off her shoulders, elegantly smiled tightly in annoyance at Duo's loudness.

"Hello. I'm Sally Po, resident mutant and doctor. Now, why don't you sit on this table here," she instructed Relena, who followed, albeit very cautiously. While Relena sat, Hiro watched and puzzled over his own thoughts. Duo amused himself further by _Pouf_ing himself all over the place.

Hiro snorted. An annoying power for an annoying mutant.

"Ah!"

Hiro's head whirled back to see Relena's face pale as Dr. Po drew a needle full of blood from her patient. Her blue eyes wide, Relena flinched away as the needle was withdrawn. Dr. Po smiled apologetically and went to the cabinets that lined the med lab.

"Candy?" Relena shook her head at the question (What was she, twelve?), then carefully applied a Band-aid taken from Dr. Po's offered hand and taped it on her upper arm. The doctor smiled, then looked with an appraising gaze to Hiro. She went over and began unwinding the bloody bandages. She gasped when the roll was completely off his arm. There was no mark!

"This is amazing! But…what about the other wounds? Would you please take off your shirt?" asked the doctor, who was running a hand over the formerly damaged area in wonder. With upraised eyebrows, Hiro took off his shirt and offered his side for viewing. There was no mark to be seen; the flesh was unmarred in any way. Relena found herself admiring the tanned, firm body before glimpsing something.

"Wait." she said, with more authority than she felt. She nimbly (at least as nimble as someone exhausted from physical exertion and blood loss can be) stepped off the table and walked over to her savior. When she stood in front of him, she had to look up to fully see his face. "Can…I…?" She moved her hands over the side of his body.

Feeling almost hypnotized by her touch, the feeling of neutrons and electrons gathering, he allowed her gentle hands to turn his lithe frame. He heard a collective gasp and gritted his teeth. Duo teleported just in time to see his shirt go flying back onto his frame. One of Relena's petite hands covered her mouth, and she motioned, as if to reach out to him. He glared sharply at her, and she fell back. Dr. Po was a bit more of an analyzer than the girl or Duo.

"Well, Mr. Mutant, those scars are pretty impressive. Must've taken at least a few dozen surgeries for that kind of scar tissue from a scalpel. And your healing factor doesn't help that, so…" She trailed off, her voice failing under the threatening blue force of his eyes. What kind of mutant was he?

"It's none of your business," he said quietly and walked out of the room. Relena and the rest watched, as with one swipe of his claws the casts that had previously covered his body were reduced to shreds and discarded on the floor.

"What'd I miss?" asked Duo, his face a cheery mixture of curiousity, seriousness and the usual happy-go-luck attitude that he seemed to wear like a cloak.. Relena wordlessly headed out of the room, following Hiro, no doubt. Sally smiled sympathetically at the braided boy as he mouthed in exasperation.

"Isn't anyone going to tell me anything?" he asked with a huff. Dr. Po quietly filled him in, as Relena followed Hiro's form out into the hallway.

Those scars, gouges, welts, had been repulsive, awful even, to look at. The sight had shaken Relena to her caring core and brought out feelings of pity and gross curiosity, but the image had also aroused her compassion, the need to protect this strange individual who had protected her without a thought to himself.

Relena caught up to Hiro rather slowly, probably owing to the fact that he was striding with his long, sturdy legs through the hallways back to his own room. Silently, the girl was amazed that he knew where they were; such an intricate puzzle of hallways and the like she had only seen at Treize's compound.

Her quiet footsteps were the only sound in the entire hall; his footfalls were silent, a cat's wary tread through unfamiliar territory. He neither acknowledged her, nor sent her off. His fury radiated away from his tense body, and she found herself placing a gentle, pacifying hand on his shoulder.

Instantly she regretted it. He whirled, turning on her. His eyes had changed; before a dark blue had stared, now a stark and frightening gold glared at her. His claws extended, and his hair stood on end, flaring away from their original resting place. Frightened, she stepped back with a small gasp of surprise. At the unexpected sound, Hiro visibly deflated away from his threatening posture. But he stared at her solemnly. She could read neither dislike, nor animosity in his eyes, and that cheered her enough to actually speak through tightened vocal cords.

"Are- Are you all right?" Her voice came out squeaky, and she inwardly grimaced and rubbed her throat, trying to sound more mature, confidant.

Hiro raised an eyebrow carefully, watching the girl rub her throat. He was sorry to have turned on her. But his bestiality, the worst 'gift' those bastards had ever given him, was rising. Maybe his memories were coming back, maybe it was just the presence of this girl, but his control was slipping. And around her, he would let nothing slip.

"I mean," he turned his thoughts back to her as she continued talking, "I never really thanked you for saving my life."

She received a grunt for her troubles, though he was still watching her intently. A little too intently. She held her breath as he leaned closer. Her breath froze as his cheek pressed against hers. But the words were the ones that fell like ice around her heart.

"I will kill you."

Her face paled, and she stared at him seriously. Before she could react, he was already walking away from her. He regretted the words. They rang in his ears now, over and over, with a ringing finality. But it was true. If she kept wandering back to him, he would probably kill her if his beast took over. His emotions were something he had been told to follow but now they were holding him back from having a semi-normal life.

Relena continued to follow him and apart but together, the two walked back to the rooms they had occupied. Unfortunately, these rooms were joined.

: :

Meanwhile, back in the Medical Lab, one doctor had already sent a weary Duo away after he had significantly depleted her candy stock. Some of the mutants at the academy were young, no older than twelve. Sometimes candy helped persuade the older ones too to submit to her ministrations. But nothing could make that insufferable Wufei Chang be treated by a woman. It frustrated her to no end that a mutant with such a hard head was constantly in trouble and refused to be tended to by her. Sighing, she stood up from her desk and went to examine the sample of blood she had gathered from one Relena Dorlian. The DNA had matched perfectly, the weight, height all the schematics. But something was wrong…

Watching carefully, she tapped a few drops of blood onto the slim glass pieces used with microscopes. Bending over and focusing on the small droplets, she watched intently. If her suspicions were correct…

The blood was still warm, still alive, to some degree. As she watched the small molecules, blood vessels and proteins in the blood, she used her computer to extract the DNA from the blood. Shortly, a double helix flashed onto her computer monitor. Mentally tracing which gene was dominant and which recessive, she dropped the pen she had been holding.

Honestly astonished, Dr. Po stared at the screen, watching as the separate genes flashed, one by one, then disappeared into the blank abyss that was her computer's memory.

The last remaining gene was the one that she needed. It flashed once, but stayed there. Hurriedly, Sally saved the information to a disk and left. In her hurry, she forgot to log off the computer, or to at least lock it so that none could see the private information. As she left, the door hissing behind her, a dark shadow detached itself from the ceiling and vaulted to the ground.

: :

Whatever information Sally had gleaned from Relena's blood, the girl wasn't told, and she was woken the next morning by Duo, who waltzed into the room as if he owned it and continued to create such a loud noise that Hiro came in through the door to glare and scowl. But not even Hiro's Glare of Death could make the braided teenager falter now. Relena, who had fallen on her bed and slept fitfully the night before, groaned.

"Duo…what're you doing in here?" The boy in question raised an ear-splitting grin for her, and even though it was six in the morning, she couldn't resist giving him a small smile in return.

"Here you go, Relena!" And with a flourish of the hand, he dumped a load of clothes onto her bed. She was so shocked at the sudden array of colors and short skirts that she simply gaped at him. Hiro watched from the corner, arms crossed, as he leaned against the wall. His raised eyebrows displayed his contempt at Duo's choice of rather…revealing…outfits.

"What is all this stuff, Duo?" she asked, poking a beautiful yellow halter top. She stared at it in a dream almost. Her father had never allowed her to wear jeans, much less a skirt shorter than her knees. But in Europe, in her father's house, things were a bit different. She clutched the shirt to her face to hide her sudden homesickness, but Duo didn't notice. She didn't know if Hiro did, and his disturbing comment had chilled her. She didn't dare look to his shadowy form. If she had to, she would have admit that she found his presence comforting. And the fact that he said he would kill her? Though it scared her, she didn't think he could go through with it.

"It's school stuff! Today, you start as an official Institute Student!" He was happy for her, and she smiled back. But the apprehension in her face must have been noticed because he continued, "Don't worry, everyone will love you here. Acceptance isn't easy, but it's a lot better than going to a non-mutant school and trying to hide what you are." But the problem with his statement? She didn't know what she was trying to hide.

"I've never been to a public school," she admitted with a blush, and his hearty laugh reassured her. "No worries Rel. You'll like it here. Some of us already like you!" he said with a charmingly goofy grin that she found hard to ignore. As Relena turned her back from Duo to eye her selection, the teleporter glanced in Hiro's direction sharply. Hiro neglected to notice the hostility in the gaze, but he mentally sighed. Obviously his treatment of the girl had been noticed, but it couldn't be prevented. They had to stay away from him. He was…dangerous.

"All right Rel!" Duo said with a whoop and a cheer as she emerged from her bathroom clad in an outfit from her new clothes. Her very first pair of jeans with a white, silky peasant top, white sandals, and her cornsilk hair brushed to a static perfection gave her a pretty, clean look that reflected in her pose and attitude. She looked shyly at the boys in her room, then glanced at the electric alarm clock on her bedstand. What time had Duo told her that school started?

"Duo, when does school start?"

"Ah! It started five minutes ago!

"DUO!"Relena yelled with horror. Late on the first day? Seeing that both of his guests were clothed, Hiro in baggy blue jeans and a tight black shirt that he had found in his closet, Relena in her selected ensemble, he pushed both would-be students out the door.

"Here we go!"

Aw, crap. Maxwell was here today.

Howard glanced up from attendance to watch, under dark sunglasses, the teleporter, well, teleport, into the room. The two new students used the conventional means of arriving to a class; namely, the door. Howard watched as Duo, sheepish now that the class was giggling at his arrival, made his way to the front, along with a pretty girl with blonde hair and a surly boy with flyaway dark hair.

"Well Duo, I see you're actually here today, instead of sleeping."

The class laughed at the teacher's comment, remembering a previous time when Duo, late as usual, had accidentally teleported before getting out of his pajamas. Duo still smarted from landing on the desk that time.

"But who are these newcomers? Students, I hope?" Howard questioned in his genial way.

"Yup!" Duo said with a newfound smile slipping onto his face in the form of a grin. It was a wicked one, and it showed. He stood at the front with Relena and Hiro. Relena looked nervously at the people, but kept her head up, straight and proud. Several boys whistled then, and she flushed. She had only attended all girls schools previously. This new school was co-ed and run by mutants, for mutants? If there was one more thing to add, it would be the piece of straw on the camel's back. Seeing her nervousness, Duo grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Relena smiled at her rescuer before letting his hand drop and raising her chin.

"I'm Relena, uh," She faltered as she wondered if she should use her last name. But many of the students had previously faced such a dilema; in such a world, mutants were now going nameless in the preference to save their families from the prejudice that involved mutants. She smiled to make up for the last-name-stumble, and continued. "I'm sixteen and previously attended a private school for girls." As several people clapped, she smiled brightly and failed to notice someone glowering at her from the middle of the classroom. Hiro did though and got up from the wall he was leaning against to stand. Although slightly stunted, he was an impressive figure with his muscles coming into full view with the black shirt.

"Hiro Yui. It's a pleasure." His montonous face betrayed otherwise, and his eyes darted over the students. Despite the cold chill that prevaded the room with his words, several girls were already eyeing Mr. Yui.

"Well, Mr. Yui, Ms. Relena, it's good to have you here. I'm called Howard, and this is Intermediate class for those with a mutation of the X-gene, commonly called mutants." He rubbed his partially bald head and ruefully chuckled. The class muttered and giggled. "But you learn about your genetics in biology. I deal with training your powers so you're not overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught that they may give you. Depending on your age, gender and power, I'll set you up into groups. Those with experience, please help those younger ones. I know it's difficult. I went through something like what you're going through," and he displayed his right arm, which neither Hiro or Relena had seen previously. It was covered in metal and circuits, a sort of bio-limb. "I can create any type of machinery. I lost my arm in 'Nam, and I created my own biomechanical arm. Works better than the old one too." For display, he crushed a soda can, set there for that purpose. It deflated like a popped balloon under the pressure.

The entire class oohed and ahhed at the display, while Relena and Hiro simply waited for the promised groups to be assigned. Relena secretly hoped to be with Hiro, while Hiro simply wanted out of the class. What could they teach him about himself that he didn't already know?

"Alright, Ms. Hilde, you partner with the Ms. Relena? Hiro, you can work with Mr. Winner." Quatre's father was an adamant hater of the Mutant Registration Act, proposed in Congress, that would force every mutant to enter a list. Of course, mutants on the lists disappeared who were already registered, and those who didn't comply were hunted down. It was better to remain unknown in this war, but many were finding it too hard to remain passive as moer curelties were forced on the mutant race. Quatre's father openly opposed many of these atrocities, and bankrolled the Institute, for which Milliardo was eternally grateful.

Hilde, a girl with bouncy short hair, and an oddly grim face, motioned for Relena to follow her to a secluded corner, while Hiro and Quatre sized each other up. The tactitian in Quatre was fierce, almost as fierce as the beast in Hiro. The two nodded, and Quatre offered a soft smile. Then the testing began. Other pairs laughed as plants grew out of no where, objects floated, colors flashed, and sounds crashed against each other. It was almost hurricane like, and Hiro enjoyed none of it. He focussed instead on Quatre and his quiet meditation. Abrubtly, Quatre enveloped himself in an energy sphere. He levitated the ball of energy out of Hiro's reach, and the feral mutant watched warily as Quatre's ball emitted startling noises. Lightning energy descended out of the ball, and Quatre gritted his teeth to keep his control stable over every atom of energy. Hiro watched in slight surprise on his countenance at the display. The blonde boy had never tried this before, and it would come in handy in the next battle.

Relena, meanwhile, was having a generally awful time. The girl, Hilde, had done nothing but glare, and throw an occasional ball of color and light at her, which Relena quickly avoided. Finally, Hilde hissed, "Why aren't you using your powers? Think you're too good? Think you're better?" Her furious face smirked suddenly. They were too close for Relena to step away, as, almost in slow motion, a firecracker of luminous colors and heat burned in Hilde's outstretched hand. The wicked smile was reflected in her eyes, and Relena anxiously ducked as Hilde threw the ball towards her.

"Watch out!" Someone called, as Hilde's 'cracker bounced around the room, before exploding in a powerful arc of heat, flames, and color. Several people screamed, and Quatre's energy encompassing power saved them all by enveloping the power in his bubble. The lightning retracted into his sphere, but the damage had been done. Small fires had erupted throughout the room, and Hiro's keen eyes had already looked for those who were injuried. But as he turned to the person he was really looking for.…

"Relena!"

TBC

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Eh….I'm sorry? **Laughs** This has been the best cliffhanger I've written, as of yet! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and I'm sorry for the lateness! Well, let's see. I've included Milli, Hilde, and Hiro, so that was last chapter's sneak peek! Here's the next chapter:

What's happened to Relena? Why was Hilde so angry? Does Trowa like Hiro! And…Relenas WHAT!

Find out in the next exhilerating installment of:

Passions!

**THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! 3 I LOVE YOU!**


	7. VII

Chapter 6

Passions

By

Uplifted

It had to be a dream. There was no possible way that it couldn't be; the greenness and the clarity of the blue sky were enough to take her breath away. But the color, the vivid brightness, wasn't what made it so astonishing. It was her placement in the scheme of things that made it all so surreal and beautiful. As she spread her arms, marveling in the luxury of the wind against her skin, her hair plastered against her head, the zephyr she rode teased the gentle blonde locks to its fullest. Her hair streamed over her back, and her wide blue eyes watched with serious intent as she flew.

There were no wings on her back; there were no strings. It was such pure, unbridled joy to hang in the air, suspended only by wind and nature that Relena's heart constricted, and she cried aloud.

Then she gasped, as she woke on the floor of the classroom.

Howard peered at her over his sunglasses, his sharp eyes calculating and his bionic arm holding her steady. She pushed his arm off her with a grateful smile, and a meek, "Thank you."

She looked around the room, getting her grip, so to speak, with the situation. Hilde's firecracker had exploded, and Quatre had absorbed most of it all, but the blast had caught her by surprise. The wall of heat had only knocked her head against the wall; she had been lucky to escape with such minor injuries. Did she have a concussion? She gingerly felt the back of her head, wincing when she came into contact with a large bump. But the skin hadn't been broken, and her mind was already on other matters. Such as; where was Hiro?

But the lean youth identified himself quickly; his strong face an impassive rock in the anxious crowd that surrounded her. She began to feel claustrophobia seep in, and she glanced about, wild-eyed.

"Everyone, give her some room. Anyone else seriously injured? No? Then I guess we'll just send Ms. Relena to the Medical Lab. Would--"

But Hiro had already stepped up, his quiet voice heard in the sudden stillness of the room.

"I'll take her, Professor Howard."

Nodding, Howard stepped aside, letting the unknown youth that had been fighting Quatre get out of the warm room. As he stepped past the blonde empath, helping a tired Relena walk, he shot a glance to the leader of the Mutates.

"We'll continue later." Came the voice of Howard, firm enough to cause Hiro to look away, and set his sights on the Med. lab. Quatre's eyes narrowed, his body stance shifting as he watched the retreating form of Hiro and Miss Relena with misgivings. That Hiro Yui was something else…

Relena blinked as she and Hiro stepped into the sun, and she squinted as the burning ball of gas continued on its merry way across the Earth's sky. She leaned on Hiro heavily, and he accepted the extra weight without a word, instead shifting, and picking her up. She looked up to his face in surprise, but there was nothing she could read there, not a hint of emotion to suggest that Hiro was doing this for her.

"It's faster this way." He said, glancing down, and meeting her face. She was the first to look away, a blush staining her cheeks at being caught staring. She shifted, and found herself leaning into his chest, a content smile on her face. Then, she found herself drifting off, sleep trying to claim her.

As Hiro continued on, he noticed the lack of responsiveness from his charge, and flexed his muscled arms. They had been built for carrying heavy objects over a long period of time if he had ever needed to. But he was unaccustomed to such a thing. But when he saw that Relena was asleep. He immediately shifted her, and hurried his pace.

"Relena, wake up." He sounded, a bit louder than his usual monotonous tone. But she was fast asleep. Hiro's mind focussed on the medical knowledge, however limited it was that he knew. If she had sustained a concussion, falling asleep was worse than hitting the same spot again. She could fall into shock, or a coma.

Instead of wondering what he should do, Hiro did something. He ran. He ran, carrying Relena to the medical lab, tracing the scent of himself back to the room that Relena's blood had been drawn in. That smell…He shook his head, refusing to think of how sick Relena had looked, nor how pale she looked now.

He ran to the door, and instead of freeing his hands to touch the sliding panel, he merely kicked it. The door, made of one of the strongest metals known to Earth, folded under his leg, and crashed into the room, sending a shower of sparks. Sally Po, sitting at her desk, staring at some sort of paper work, was startled, to say the least.

"Well, this is a mutant school, but couldn't you have at least tried to use the door? Expenses are enough as it is…" She trailed off as she stared at Hiro's burden.

"Get her on the table." Immediately the doctor, the healer in Sally was speaking, and she quickly went to her computer, rapidly typing. The document that Sally had been staring at disappeared into cyberspace, and Hiro couldn't help wondering what had been on the document to make Sally look so startled.

Scanning Relena's body, Sally couldn't help but sigh in relief as she saw that whatever the girl had come here for hadn't adversely affected her too much.

"Relena's fine, Hiro." She said reassuringly, watching as her computer's did the rest of her work, starting up and maintaining Relena's pulse, brain waves, among other things. Sally waved the feral mutant away, and set about her work; her own mutant ability. Healing.

Hiro, finding himself without someone to look after, walked out of the room, with a backward glance to be absolutely positive he wasn't needed. The door hissed shut behind him, obscuring his view, and finalizing his thoughts. As he walked out of the room, he saw Duo of all people lounging against the wall, his usual dopey grin obscured by his grimness. Duo, worrying? Hiro shook his head silently, a bit annoyed by the other mutant.

"So how is she?" were the first words out of the braided Mutate's mouth. In reply he received Hiro's full strength focussed behind his clenched hand. Staggering under the punch Duo looked in amazement to the now-glaring Hiro.

"What the hell?" cried Duo, lifting a hand to his mouth, and wiping away the trickle of blood that had slowly appeared. Hiro didn't respond, but the sound of Hiro's claws freeing themselves from their prison of flesh made Duo's face pale. Bloodless, Duo motioned to Hiro to follow him, gulping audibly.

Hiro followed the teleporter, his glare full force. Unbidden, the memory of Relena kissing him came to his mind, and Hiro shook his head to rid himself of the image, growling now. He couldn't be distracted. He stopped himself from walking into Duo, and found that the mutant had led him to the gardens of the school. Fortunately, they were in a secluded section of the lush gardens, with ferns and trees blocking the two from sight.

And in the sunlight, Hiro was only slightly startled to see Duo's form start to melt, his flesh becoming hazy in the sunlight, his hair unbraiding and fading from a chestnut brown to a sun bleached corn-silk blonde.

Hiding a smirk, Hiro unsheathed both sets of claws, and slid into an offensive stance. Dorothy, fully feminine and herself, blanched.

"You shouldn't have been sent. You don't have the stomach." Hiro growled, his thoughts racing as fast as his adrenaline. "You're afraid." He could smell fear on her, a stench that Hiro personally hated; it reminded him too much of the time when he had been drenched in the smell.

Dorothy reddened, though with anger this time. She glared at Hiro, then smirked, and her form changed again. When her form had ceased rippling, Relena stood, looking innocent and vulnerable. Hiro did grin then, a feral, wicked thing that left Dorothy breathless with fear, and longing. Hiro was a fine specimen of a man, and a mutant. Dorothy smirked in Relena's body, and there was the seductive Relena who had come onto him in the containment area, the prison. Hiro's grin sharpened, and he rushed forward, claws outstretched, only to find himself fighting a copy. Dorothy raised her own gundanium claws, and Hiro's own feral grin was reflected back to him.

The two began a deadly circling game. If one of them stepped too closely to the other, a flurry of claws and fangs and limbs would come up, each springing back before serious harm could be dealt.

Dorothy flung her arms at him, trying to embrace Hiro with her claws. Hiro jumped to avoid the metal, and landed on Dorothy/Hiro's shoulders. He jumped off, neatly flipping around as he did so, and landed in a crouch, completely prepared for an attack. Dorothy growled at Hiro, wondering how things had come to this. Making a final decision, Dorothy melted back to herself, flexing her fingers as the claws retracted, and disappeared.

"Hiro." She said seriously, staring intently at the teenager she had come to capture. "Why are you staying in this school, this breeding hive of activity. I know you love your lonesome ways, your deep bouts of depression and solitude." She schooled her face into a mask of indifference, something that Hiro might accept. "Come with me. I'll take you to Treize, he'll accept you for all you mutant abilities, for all of yourself. Believing in humanity? Fighting for the very people who will turn on you, try to kill you, what does that accomplish? It proves how very weak you've become, accepting scraps like some poor beaten dog."

Hiro never wavered, but Dorothy's words had each struck a hard nerve. The Mutates fought for humanity, but what had humanity done for Hiro? They'd locked him up, like a wild animal, and given him claws, making him more of an animal than he already was. Fighting his instincts now, to go with Dorothy, Hiro glared.

"I won't go with you." He growled out, his claws out and ready 'til the bitter end. Dorothy smiled calmly.

"You mean you won't leave her."

Hiro lunged, his hands itching to feel Dorothy's slender neck in his mercy. She laughed then, infuriating him. As he watched, she slowly became someone else, someone older. The woman from the base, who had brought Relena in, the one with the brown hair and the words of ice. Hiro could only watch helplessly as Dorothy/Une floated away, borrowing the telekinetic powers of Lady Une. Hiro, drenched with sweat from his adrenaline, had nothing to do with his energy, and his frustrations. Instead of fruitlessly looking for how Dorothy had managed to infiltrate the school, he instead headed back inside. He briefly recalled something Duo had said about a training facility, so he used his hyper-senses to try and find where these training grounds were.

Just his luck, Hiro stumbled on the Physical mutations class just as they were having mock-battles in the gym. A boy with the ears of an elephant was currently trying to get the best of a cocky girl with a shock of auburn hair.

"Get 'er Dumbo!" cried one of the mutant's friend, Hiro couldn't be sure which. 'Dumbo' cast a withering look to the speaker, then continued trying to annoy the girl, who had sprouted wings as red as her hair. She laughed at Dumbo, and taunted him from her perch on a basketball hoop.

"Go Red Tail!" said a laughing girl, her hair a brilliant green.

Hiro sighed in exasperation (kids these days!), and made his way over to the teacher, who was delighted to have a late-comer, and encouraged him to find someone to engage with. Casting a dubious glance at the kids that gathered, chatting, around the room, Hiro didn't know what to do with himself. It wasn't that he felt alone, more like he didn't want to accidentally make mutant sushi if his partner was careless.

"Hey there."

Hiro turned to look at the speaker, and was surprised by a shock of blue fur. And instead of a head, he came face-to chest with another mutant. Glancing up at the veritable beast of a person, Hiro coldly sized up his opponent. At least seven feet tall, covered in shaggy blue fur, with jeans, a tight white tee-shirt, and black Dockers.

"Hnn." Was Hiro's less-than-enthusiastic greeting. Fuzzy-blue-boy blew off the greeting, and instead motioned to an empty corner of the gym.

"Did you come here to stand around, or to fight?" Fuzzy asked, successfully goading Hiro into a fight. Glancing warily at the beast, the supposedly-Japanese mutant walked over with his companion. Both settled into a fighting stance, and a small crowd of watchers gathered. By the catcalls and shouting, Hiro could tell that Beast, the blue guy, was the favorite in this class.

Well, too bad!

Hiro started first, his adrenaline already kicking into hyperdrive, taking his sense along with him. He lunged, his claws extracting almost at the last second. Beast, without a chance to move out of the way on the ground, simply leapt into the air, his mutant ability showing the increased muscular density, and flexibility of this mutant. His powers were obvious physical, and enhanced his fighting ability. Hiro, both set of claws out now, kept his face up, his bangs framing his head in a dark halo as he kept his focus on his target.

Beast catapulted to the ground, turning a few times in the air, and then surged to life, getting up close and personal with Hiro.

As Beast held Hiro in a headlock, the thin, lean shaping of Hiro's body was magnified next to his opponent's bulk. Several students were already beating on the shaggy blue teen to win and money was already being exchanged. Hiro's legs, hanging limp in the air, twisted up and, coupled with Beast's extreme height and weight, knocked Beast off balance making him fall to the wooden floor of the gym.

Hiro's supporter's cheered, but the fight wasn't over yet. Hiro crouched; his animalistic instincts taking over as a trickle of blood slowly made its way down Beast's chin. Wiping it away backhanded, Beast grinned. Both of the fighters had animalistic instincts, though the fight was far from even. Hiro, with his skill and claws, had the upper hand, though Beast's superior height and weight made him an opponent to be wary of.

But the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Hiro, crouched, his muscles tense and ready, was tired of this meaningless fighting, and was ready for it to be over. Beast on the other hand hadn't had a good challenge in a long time, and wasn't about to let Hiro best him. Hiro lunged, Beast parried. Beast swung, and Hiro ducked. The fighting was getting more intense, and more and more of the other students were watching. The teacher, oblivious to the lethal battle, was currently lecturing the mutant Red Tail on her usage of the English language, while Dumbo snickered silently behind the teacher. Suddenly, Beast came out of nowhere with a punch aimed at Hiro's stomach. Avoiding it meant either dodging out of the way, into the student's watching, or jumping, and opening himself up for attack, So Hiro simply ducked. Beast's hand flew through Hiro's hair, instead of landing a solid punch into his abdomen. Droplets of sweat flung in the air, and both combatants ran forward at the same moment. As they scuffled and tussled, the teacher finally became aware of what was happening.

"Stop it, you two!" cried the teacher, but his voice went unnoticed by the two fighters. The teacher, trying to get to them failed, and was nearly swamped by the close press of the crowd that had surrounded Hiro and Beast.

When the people finally stepped back, the teacher balked, as he came upon a panting Hiro with his shirt torn and mangled, hanging away from his chest in threads, his eyes nearly glowing with an insatiable thirst for blood. His hands hung limply at his sides, the claws there, wickedly sharp and lethal. His tousled hair seemed a potent symbol for the madness that gripped him with a fury, messy and flyaway, but with a chillingly apparent pattern to the insanity.

"Oh dear." The teacher said helpfully, and tried to move around Hiro to get to Beast, who was lying unconscious behind the irate feral mutant. Hiro paused, never moving, his eyes following the teacher's path. The teacher finally did get around Hiro, but Beast was too heavy to lift. Abruptly, Red Tail shifted into her second form, a red sparrow, and flew off for the Medical Lab's doctor.

There was no sound in the gym, except for Hiro's labored breathing, and the stuffy sound of quiet that had permeated the room. Hiro's senses could smell the fear, taste the anticipation, and nearly touch the nervousness that was in the room. His animal mind, the warrior inside of him had been frustrated with simply sitting and staying put in a classroom. No, that wasn't what the warrior was for, it hadn't been built for that.

The memories that had refused to come back to Hiro, the black and white fragments that were his only ties to the past were now flying through his mind; a dab of blue there, the smell of blood there, but by and large, his only memories were of recently. And the foremost of these memories was a pair of blue-green eyes that blinked at him in trust.

Hiro's 'other side' slipped back into unconsciousness as he slowly came back to himself. His claws snapped back into his knuckles, and the teacher nearly collapsed with relief. Things would at least be partially all right, as long as Beast regained consciousness fairly soon. But Hiro slumped forward, exhausted, right into a pair of arms.

"Hiro!" he heard someone yell, but it was from so far away that he didn't even bother registering it as he slipped into a semi-conscious state.

And Sally Po, on entering the gym, found not one, but two students who needed attention, and one student who should not have been out of bed.

TBC

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Hey all! Hope this chapter is as fun for you to read as it was for me to write! My sister wanted a lot more Hiro, so there ya go. Yes, well, the next chapter should be up sooner than the wait with this one was, so please bear with me! I hope you review too, as I read and love all of them!

Thank you!

Lif


	8. VIII

Chapter Eight.

_By_

_Uplifted_

Authoress's note: I'm so sorry for the delay! I had a lot of things happening. I broke up with my long-time boyfriend, my dog had to be put down, and then my sister was forever banging on my door about updates. This is a filler chapter, but I'm hoping that people will enjoy it enough to review! I love all the responses that I get. So, enjoy!

Sally Po decided that lectures could come later. For now, Beast needed medical treatment, and Hiro needed god-knew what. After the mutant Red Tail had come and informed her of the fight, and the fighter's, she had immediately rushed passed the gaping hole that was her doorway, and sprinted to the gym. Wufei, seeing the normally calm and collected doctor running across several hallways to one of the gyms, had to wonder just what was coming to this school to make annoying women run like that.

Relena sat next to Hiro, her hand slowly stroking his forehead, and brushing away spikey tendrils of hair. Her worried face peered into his unconscious one, while a crowd of anxious friends were already gathered around Beast.

"Alright everyone, move away **now**!" She commanded, rolling up her sleeves and getting to it, motioning for the teacher of the class to come over. A telepath, luckily, was brought, who managed to lift up the two heavy bodies, and walked with Sally at the head, levitating the two to the medical bay. Relena walked with them as well, knowing she was in trouble, but not caring. She jogged to keep up with Hiro's floating form, and stayed with him as he was positioned onto an examination table. Beast suffered lacerations and a mild concussion, aparently, while Hiro seemed to be in a self-made coma.

Relena stayed with him while Sally saw to Beast's injuries. Halfway through tending them, the blue creature woke with an enormous headache.

"What happened?" He asked groggily, staring out at the grey and sterile white of the medical room.

"You lost." Sally said with a grin, and finished sticky an adhesive bandage to his arm, his fur making band-aids look uncomfortable enough. But the bandage would help the blood clotting, and stimulate the natural healing in one's body. Beast sighed, and started to get up, only to be pushed down by the doctor herself. Relena watched quietly in slight curiousity, but most of her attention was drawn to Hiro. She didn't know when she had grown attached to the mutant, and didn't even know if that was a good thing. But he had helped her, and she would help him, through whatever she could.

While Sally argued heatedly with Beast, Hiro's brainwaves picked up, and his eyes fluttered as he returned to consciousness, instantly on alert.

"Rah!" he growled as he was instantly up, claws out, expecting to see Beast looming over him. Instead, he saw Relena looking torn between backing away from him, and beaming. She smiled hesitantly, as both Sally and Hank McKoy (the Beast) stopped their argument and watched. Sally bustled over and instantly began check up on Hiro's injuries, scrapes that weer mostly healed by now.

"Fascinating." She said under her breath, staring at Hiro in delight. His claws disappeared, and Relena sighed in relief that no one was going to be hurt. Her heart squeezed tightly at the sight of Hiro, awake and ready, and she had to catch her breath before she started coughing. Hiro watched her, a bit weirdly, but it didn't matter to her.

"Well, this has been a few interesting days for you two, hasn't it?" Sally asked, knowing full well that it had only been a week since Treize had kidnapped them, and a day since they had been going to lessons. "You two should just go rest. I'll keep Hiro here, and Relena, you can go back to your room. I assure you that your teacher's will not mind in the slightest. Just get some sleep."

Relena looked back at Hiro to see if it was alright, but his monotonous face gave nothing away. Smiling sadly at him, she made her way out of the room, and began her journey to her room.

Hiro let out a tense sigh, and relaxed, somewhat. He was perfectly fine, he knew, but his body could use a few hours of sleep. He carefully laid back against the cool metal of the table, and fell into a deep, almost dream-less sleep. Unfortunately, a few hours into his sleep, the nightmare began.

It was a dark place, and green light flashed sporadically at the doctors assembled. Medical instruments were arranged on tables, and a naked body was strapped to a flat table, hovering above a pool of green liquid. Faceless beings came forward, buttons were pressed, long, glinting needles hovered, then sank, metallic bubbles, and the _glub-glub_ of a thick liquid all were drowned out by an ear-piercing scream of pain and desperation. Hiro's eyes shot open, and he clutched the area of his shirt where his heart resides. The organ was pumping abnormally, blood coursing through his veins at an excelerated speed, contrasting with his oxygen flow. Charts began bipping slightly as he strained to calm himself, to remove the nightmare from his consciousness.

Unbidden, a vision came to his mind, calming his breathing, and his heart rate. His eyes slow drifted down, and he fell asleep, to forget about the nightmare that had haunted him his entire known life.

In an entirely different area of the globe, a group of people had gathered, and were discussing what could possibly be a plan to destroy the world. The world of _homo sapiens_.

"It comes down to this, cousin." A pale blonde said, motioning to the large holographic screen in front of her, waving a perfectly manicured hand, "we absolutely need Hiro Yui. Obviously he won't just walk up to us and demand into our wonderful group," she paused as she took in the grumblers in the background, "So we need something to persuade him to come to us." A deadly smirk shifted across her features before her skin slid smoothly into a different form, with dark gold hair fluttering around her shoulders.

"To get to Hiro Yui, we need Relena Dorlian."

A shadowed figure lazily brought a cigarette to dark lips. Grey smoke circled the air gently, and the mysterious smoker exhaled elegantly with a sigh. Looking past the cigarette to the blonde speaker, the smoker inclined his head. Taking it as a cue to continue, Dorothy smiled greedily. Her time would come, soon enough, where Treize would be the one presenting possible ventures to her. But for now, with Une around, Dorothy would simply play her role to perfection. Her hair lightening back to her original color, Dorothy continued with her scheme, one that had taken nearly days to fully think out. After flying away from Hiro Yui in fear of her life, she had come to the conclusion that he needed to be brought over. To the dark side, if a pun could be used.

"You already have the reports of Relena that I stole. Relena would be ridiculously easy to take, and we should. I think your original plan would be an excellent way to goad Mr. Yui to coming to claim his 'ward'. The fact of the matter is, Hiro is a mutant we need, if not for his enormous strength, the secrets locked in his memories. Those plans could give whoever had them the ultimate edge in the war." The blonde said, enjoying her role as speaker, and finishing elegantly, with a bow in the direction of the shadowed beings.

The being stayed in the shadow, and idly traced a line on his cheek, wondering at his cousin's motives. Certainly it was a decent, even brilliant plan, but what and who would it need? Hiro Yui was a hard man to contain. Next time, he would not be rooming with an accomplice. But the plans to win the war, the chance to end the reign of the pathetically normal humans? This was worth any chance.

"Who do you need, Dorothy?" came his deep voice from the dark shadow. Une frowned in disapproval, but other than that, remained silent. The shape-shifter smirked.

"That depends. Do you want me to take out Zech's school for humanity's dogs?" There was a hush. No one had ever dreamed that they could attack the school itself. It had always repelled everything from alien attacks to police investigation. Some looked uneasy among the group, while other smiled darkly.

"No."

"Then what, cousin? You want me to simply take Miss Relena, and have her brought back her to the fruitation of your original plan? So be it. I need the Colonol. And that is it." The shadowy form nodded, and waved a hand, indicating for Une to follow Dorothy's already leaving form.

And the meeting was concluded.

: :

Morning touched the school, and students began to noisily get ready for a day of fun. It was a free day for the students, and a day of reprieve for the staff, who had to deal with young mutants on a constant basis. People needed to have a break now and then. Most of the students were planning a trip to the nearby city of New York, as it was a gloriously sunny day. The Professor was addressing most of the students in the courtyard, and Relena, who woke later than normal, had no idea what was going on when bunches of students raced past her on the hallways, dragging people and being dragged to the courtyard.

"I want you all on your best behaviour. If I hear of anything untoward happening, you can be sure to expect someone waiting for you here. Staying here is a priviledge." Many of the students knew this, and feared expellsion. Everyone nodded, and as a group, the students swarmed the gates, prepared to walk to the inner city. Milliardo did not provide transportation, and they only lived a few blocks from the city.

Hiro woke to a crowd of people clamoring around Beast to wake up. Pushing his hair out of his face, he stood and stealthily walked away from the heckled doctor, and out into the hallway.

Only to be swamped by a waiting crowd of female students, some of which looked rather resigned, as if they had been dragged to this spot. Hiro's eyes widened, then narrowed as the group descended on him, a blonde named Silvia in the lead. Another girl, the sparrow one, was closely behind Silvia, and more were behind them. Black-haired, blonde-haired, red-heads, all swarmed the poor animalistic mutant, until Duo appeared with a delayed _Pouf! _and quickly dragged Hiro to his side, before teleporting to the hallway in front of the courtyard.

As Hiro stepped away from the braided mutant, and was about to offer his belated thanks, he came face to face with a laughing Duo, who was busy making a fool of himself by rolling on the floor. Resisting the urge to kick the annoying mutant, Hiro looked beyond the idiot to see the rest of the Mutates, assembled in a variety of street clothes.

Blankly, he saw Relena among the students in the courtyard, wearing jeans and a black tee shirt, looking befuddled. Quatre smiled as he saw the feral's gaze go to the courtyard, knowing full well that Relena was already out there, dragged by a senior boy with a pyro mutation.

"Today's a free day. Students do what the want, as long as there's no trouble." Trowa said quietly, watching Hiro intently. "Want to come with us to New York?" Trowa knew that the chances of Hiro saying 'yes' were either very good, if Relena was going, or very bad, with his recent issues and injuries. So the uni-banged one was slightly surprised when Hiro simply nodded.

The group began to walk out, and most paused to wish the teacher's a good day. Trowa remained respectfully silent, while Wufei simply stalked on, muttering under his breath of the wasting of one's time. The group merged together with the rest of the students, and walked on, Trowa starting a quiet conversation with Quatre, and Wufei starting a shouting match with Duo, who were arguing about one of their lessons. Hiro kept Relena in his sights, but was wary of everyone.

It seemed that his old feelings were going to be hard to dissuade, and Hiro wondered bleakly if he even wanted his old, soldierly training to fade. He could take care of himself now, and any who fell under his protection. If he let himself fade, what would happen? Would he fail her?

Would he fail himself?

The students reached New York none the worse for wear, but some of the girls were already complaining about their strappy sandals that arched their heels uncomfortably. Wufei rolled his eyes at this, and began another debate with Duo, on the subject of women. It became apparent, halfway through, that Wufei was ranting about a particular woman, and from there the debate dropped into an argument, as Duo began trying to piece together just who Wufei was talking about.

Trowa smirked and shook his head, while Quatre plainly smiled. It was blindingly obvious, but Duo was never very good at picking up things like that. Statistics for basketball players, and an ingenious stealth mission, maybe, but not on picking up passion vibes.

And then they were in the bustle of the city. Vendors shouted their wares, hecklers badgered people, and flith crowded the streets. People raced to and fro, children played in the streets and sidewalks, and restaurants shoved hungry people in, and stuffed people out. All the noise, smells and feels reached Hiro at once, nearly making him double over. Welcome to chaos.

From there, students began splitting into groups. A few loners ignored the others and made their way, alone, to the alleys or to restaurants and stores. Many went to the malls and chain stores to stock up on illegal goodies. Candy, girl magazines (for the older teen boys) and soda were all bought readily, along with books, gifts, and school supplies. It was a regular holiday, though many of the passerbys watched suspiciously. And when a cloaked boy (obviously physically mutated) had his cover blown, a telepathic friend had to create an illusion for him.

But all in all, many of the students were enjoying themselves, out in their uniforms without teacher supervision. Hiro stayed with the Mutates, a newly-bought dark blue beanie over his hair, with dark jeans and a black tee shirt, he blended in well. Quatre took some time looking at the flower display, explaining to Hiro that his sister's owned a florist shop, and were expirimenting with buds. Trowa remained near the group, always the silent, comanding prescense of a leader. Wufei bought a brand of particular soda, and paid for it to be kept in the store's freezer until he came back for it, the bulk being cumbersome and unwiedly. Duo dragged everyone into a book store, and wouldn't rest until he'd had the latest mecha manga. Hiro confined himself to buying the hat for himself, and simply watched everyone.

After exiting the book store, a friendly young boy accidentally bumped into Wufei. With a squeeky 'Sorry!' he zipped off, and Duo chased him, screaming about pick-pockets. After coming back, dragging the boy in tow, and finding Wufei's wallet securely in his pocket, he laughed good-heartedly, and gave the kid a fiver. Glaring, but clutching the money, the kid raced off. The group picked on Duo in their own way, until the braided boy was walking with a somber expression on his face, and a wallet in hand.

Of course, it was Wufei's wallet, and the Chinese mutant gave chase, hollering for his hard earned money back. It was his next wage to be sent to his family, and he was afraid Duo would lose it.

The group had arrived at Central Park, and children were there already, along with students, who had packed a lunch, and were cheerily eating. Hiro also noticed, with a pang that he couldn't pin down, that Relena was there, and eating with the pyro mutant.

: :

Relena had been spending the day with Pyro, or John. He was nice, in an oily way, but he wanted too much to show of his powers. Many times, Relena had placed a restraining hand for some slight that a non-mutant had caused him. But he would always smile sincerely, and simply shrug her, and the comment off. Eventually, her stomach had spoken for her, and they had made their way to the park, to grab a quick bite to eat, and a quick conversation with each other. He was flirtatious, he was a bit overly smug, but at least he wasn't a gropist. She smiled, stood, and said she'd be right back, and asked him for his trash.

"I'll go throw it away." She continued, and walked sedately to the trashcan. Behind it, a little girl was wailing at the top of her lungs, as two boys picked on her.

"Hahah! Pig tails are for dorky little girls!" They shouted as they pulled on her hair.

"Stop it, you two!" Relena said, wading into the fight and pulling the two boys away from the girl, who started snuffling instead of her wails. The two boys looked awestruck that someone had stopped them. They began screaming, as toddlers will. Relena looked taken aback, but she sensed that danger was coming. And it was. In the form of two large, irate mothers.

"Just what the hell are you doing to my little boy you tramp?" Cried one, and grabbed her 'snookie umpkins'. The other hastily pulled her boy a safe distance away, and glared sharply at Relena. But Relena had face master's of magnetism, Hiro drunk on mutant powers, and Duo with a gleam in his eye. Two mother's with bully sons didn't scare her. Much.

"Your two boys were picking on a defenseless little girl!" She cried, not noticing the crowd gathering at the disturbance, "You should be teaching them manners, not your language skills!"

The mother gasped. Then her eyes narrowed in fury, and she stepped forward.

"Listen you little hussy! My boy is one of the best in his class, he'd never do anything rotten. You on the other hand, are bothering children involved in harmless play! Where are your parents, that let you walk around and bully others?" She was working herself into a frenzy, and Relena was getting decidedly nervous. And then, her saviour came. Ironically, it was another mother.

"Susie honey? Are you alright?" a motherly woman came back from the ice-cream stand she had been standing at, and looked at the crowd. "Is something wrong here, or do I need to call the police?" she said, her voice turning steely. The crowd drifted away, but the two mothers, and two little brats stayed. Relena, in her defensive position in front of Susie, looked apprehensively at the mother, who simply smiled at her, and cooed to her young daughter, before handing her a mint chocolate ice cream cone.

"Susie, are these your daily playmates?" It was asked with a genial smile, but Susie must have seen something funny, because she giggled as the ice cream went into her nose, and nodded her affirmative.

"Well then. Thank you ladies, for coming over so that I didn't have to waste my time, not my energy going to your house and **demanding** an apology for the bullying my daughter has gone through at the expense of your little darlings. And you will apologize, or my husband will hear about this." She said, her eyes cold, and her voice cutting. The two froze, and nodded, before pushing their boys over hastily. The two little ones glanced at the ice cream, then rubbed their noses on their sleeves.

"Sorry," they mumbled, then sped away, followed closely by their complaining parents.

The mother sighed, and picked up Susie, who cuddled into her mother. "Thank you, young lady." She said with a kind smile. "I'm sure Mr. Kensington would love to thank you personally for the protection of his daughter, but my husband is over seeing the construction of his new building." Her face grew tired, but it still radiated a warmth. "Say good-bye Susie."

"G'by Susie."

Relena stifled a laugh, and waved goodbye to the two, and turned to see not John, but Hiro behind her. The rest of the Mutates stood a bit away, watching intently.

"What was that?" He asked, watching the two walk away with suspicion in his eyes, but a light Relena had never seen before.

She laughed out loud, and backed away from Hiro. "It was a farewell. Don't you know the word goodbye?" Her laughing tone, and the way she said the word 'goodbye' tripped something in Hiro, but he ignored it. John was gone, walking with another group of friends, and Hiro motioned for Relena to join the Mutates.

TBC

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Reviews are welcome! Next chapter will not take so long, and I apologize for the delay! Again, any pairing suggestions? (Though it is kind of set.) And so far, I don't think anyone has guessed Relena's mutation.


	9. IX

Passions

By. Uplifted.

Chapter Nine

Tingling nerves were on fire, every last inch of his body was interupted in it's pattern of life to be enveloped in the scream of pain that was torn from his mouth. Shaking hands were pressed sharply to matted hair and sweaty skin, as dark blue eyes widened in recognition and horror, until they dilated to a dead black. Inwardly shaking, Hiro braced a hand against the wall, clutching his shread of humanity to himself. His heart began a dance of potential death, beating irratically, and forcing the mutant to stop. The other's in the group, especially Relena, looked to him with surprise and fear, but that was probably because they saw his spikey hair begin to rise, and a cold aura develop around his body. His mouth began to stretch, fangs elongating, claws snapping from their fleshy prisons.

"Damn..it!" Was all the group heard, before an animalistic growl forced itself out of Hiro's throat. He staggered forward, and a crowd began to from around the group.

"This can't be happening now!" cried Relena, who hurried forward to craddle Hiro's splitting head in her arms. The group had been walking around the New York area, when the had passed the pet store, and Duo had off-handedly spoken about animal cruelty. Then, Hiro had simply screamed. Everyone was surprised that Hiro was such a devout animal activist, but it seemed that his pain was another reason for the yell.

"Perfect, Mutates. I come looking, and here you are." Came an icy voice above them. Idiotically, every person gathered there looked up, instead of around, for the infamous Mutates. Therefore, they didn't see Trowa, Quatre, Duo and Wufei strip their streetclothes off, to reveal their costumes beneath. Wufei, who hadn't bothered wearing his uniform, simply froze himself, and ripped away his shirt. The sound of ripping cloth brought the attention of the crowd, and the enemy, back to the small group of fighters, who had circled around Relena, who was calmly tending to Hiro, and said mutant.

"I've come to collect. You owe us many a team-mate for our cause. You've disrupted how many retrievals?" Une said in a mocking voice, easily floating forty feet above the heads of the average person. Her costume was covered with a long cloak, that whipped and drapped around her to the wind's dictation.

"What do you mean, Miss Une?" Called Quatre, ever the polite one. His scowl, however, never left his face. Hiro's voice ripped through the area with a high-pitched keen, and his muscles began to bunch. Une watched, a bit warily, before lifting her arm, and easily firing a psionic pulse at the annoyingly loud mutant. It hit his cerebellum, and instantly knocked him into unconsciousness, away from the staggering amount of pain being inflicted on his body. Relena shifted herself so that she was covering Hiro, and glared at Une. Trowa fired off rapid pulses, Quatre began charging large balls of energy, and Wufei incased Relena and Hiro in an ice dome, before adding as he sealed it, 'watch how much you breathe.'

Students from the university had gathered, many anonymously watching the battle. Most of the students were shocked, and in shock, at the obvious-ness of just who the mutates were. Shinigami, with his long tail, was already swinging up the buildings, '_Poof_'ing up behind Une, and pummeling her. Hilde watched with narrowed eyes. So Duo was lying to her the entire time, not telling her anything, treating her like a child! A large fire-cracker rose from the crowds and hit Une's telepathic shield, causing crackles of energy to flit across the sphere of mental power.

"Damn you, Shinigami!" Une cried, as she twisted about in mid-air, trying to find her opponent. Her back ached from the multiple hits, and she tried fruitlessly to catch at something on the other mutant. While Duo's hits annoyed her, Trowa's beams steadily ate at her shield, trying to find a way through.

"What are you doing here!" Called Quatre, throwing the first of three energy spheres at the shield. Instead of bursting at the impact, the energy collided, and resisted, morphing around the shield and eating away at the mental telepathy. Une's horrified gaze swept over the cannibalist energy, fighting the energy of her enemies with deadly force, until her power built to such a degree that is exploded outwards, catching an unwary Duo just as he '_Poof_'ed into thin air. With a harsh yell, he was sent sprialling to the ground below, where a short-haired girl ran to bring him to safety. With a triumphant yell, Une turned around after watching Shinigami hit the ground, to find Trowa calmly watching him with a tight-lipped look. Her gleeful cry faded in her throat as she was hit with the power of the sun, through Cyclop's optic beams.

She let out a pained scream, flying high into the air, aware that Quatre had fired another energy beam, and that it was following her every move. Suddenly, she dove straight down. Quatre, already realising what she would be doing, ran straight for the ice-dome that protected Relena and Hiro. Wufei was already there, his slanted eyes brimming with a cool fire, facing a falling Une.

"You Mutates don't realize Treize's dream shall be a reality, with you, or without!" she cried, and swung upwards sharply. The energy ball that had been following her crashed right into the ice dome, enveloping it in a shield or iridescent yellow. Or, it would have, if Quatre hadn't absorbed it back into his gauntlets as it went past him. His face shone with perspiration, and Wufei watched warily.

"Quatre. You are strong, and the weak perish before the mighty. This woman is challenging us. You owe it to your friends and yourself to do your best." And away Iceman went, sliding on a beam of ice right up to Une, where he began firing shot of deadly icicles at the caped woman.

"Yeah." Quatre whispered, glancing at his energy gaunlets, then to Cyclops, who gave him an encouraging nod.

"Hiro, I don't think you should wake up. There's not enough oxygen in here for the two of us if you're in such pain." Relena was whispering softly to Hiro, trying to abate her fears for the two of them. What would come from this battle? She was tired of being some inanimate prize to be fought for, at least according to that dreary school professor. Relena heard a conversation close by shortly after that, but had resigned herself to being locked in a cold prison for a while.

Light lanced through the ice, and small cracks formed as a hand collapsed one part of the ice shield, a calloused hand reaching in to grab one of Relena's. She gasped, relieved to feel fresh air, but the look on Trowa's face frightened her.

"What's going on?"

"Leave him," he said shortly, glancing at Hiro with unmasked amusement, "we need you." Relena hesitated, frowning at the look she had seen Trowa give Hiro. The two supposedly had nothing up respect for the other. What would have changed that to Trowa laughing at him?

"No, Trowa." She said softly, "I have to stay with him. Besides, I'm not useful for much."

"You're useful to me." Trowa said softly, before reaching in, and hauling her out physically.

"Trowa! Trowa, stop it. Let me go!" She said, fighting the Mutate's leader with all the force she possessed. Trowa was unmoved, walking casually away from the fighting, and the crowds, until he had walked into an alley.

"Your noise is most unbecoming, Relena. Now, be quiet." He spoke, before tightening his grip on her wrist painfully. What was he, a robot? But Relena was hauled into a building without further ado, and saw nothing of the fight that was ravaging New York.

Wufei, who had caught the psyionic mutant with an ice dagger twice, was being cautious now. Something had changed about the evil mutant, and Iceman had no clue what it meant for the team. Abrubtly pulled from his thoughts, he was flung into a nearby sky scraper by a whirlpool of psy force. Forcing his head to the side, so it wouldn't be crushed, he saw the other Mutates in similar prediciments. And, he saw, that his ice-sphere that had protected the two who wouldn't be able to fight, was broken, crumbling, and leaving Hiro open. Forcing a wall of ice between himself and his opponent, Wufie staggered away from Une, falling down an ice-chute to kneel in front of the unconscience feral mutant. His eyelids were fluttering, and he needed medical treatment if his pain was an indicater of trauma. Quatre, sensing Hiro's muddled feelings, and Wufei's weariness, threw a casual energy sphere at them, enveloping both of them with light green. Slowly, the energy suffused through their beings, until Wufei was as pumped as when the fight began, and Hiro as healthy he was going to get, without a doctor.

"Wait." Wufei said suddenly, looking through the ice shards and wreckage of his protective shield, "Where's the girl?"

At that, Hiro's eyes snapped open. His nose was pressed back into his skull, and his eyes were flattening, darkening. His face was changing, shifting into something animalistic and violent, and Wufei, who was not a weakling, suddenly found himself wanting to back away from this mutant.

Gutteral growls and snaps came from Hiro's throat, and he turned his chilling gaze to Une, who was steadily beating back Trowa. And then, he leapt into action, his claws outstretched, a sadistic grin of bloodshedding glee stretched onto his face.

Quatre cried out then, a yell of pain and fright, as his friend's thoughts entered his brain, and tried to override them. There was nothing even vaguely 'Hiro' in those thoughts. It was a completely different entity.

Trowa suddenly found himself face-to-face with a crazy mutant, who had begun to savagely attack Une.

"Hiro!" Trowa called, before swearing under his breath. Duo was down, probably getting a tongue lashing from Hilde, Quatre was going into emotional-overload, and Wufei looked like the last thing in the world he wanted to do was cross a dangerous savage mutant. Trowa strode forward, eyes furrowing as he saw Hiro slash into Une's cape, removing some skin with his claws. She shrieked, and flew out of Hiro's reach. Trowa tackled Hiro from behind, and held on furiously, even as Une flew away.

"Seer!" He bellowed, almost saying Quatre's name out loud. Even though most of the students probably already knew who they were, it would not help matters to have the entire city of New York know the young mutant's name. "Get a handle on this!" He struggled against Hiro, and even as he did, he felt new muscles growing beneath the ripped clothing Hiro wore. "What the…?" He said out loud, and squeezed tighter against the mad-mutant.

Quatre hurried over, clutching a hand to his head, and quickly dove into Hiro's consciousness, finding the wall that had been breached, and quickly building it up with a mental shield. As he built the foundation, brick by brick, so did Hiro's conscience return to him. His face morphed back into it's original shape, and his claws faded back into his bloody hands, and he grew lax in Trowa's hold.

"Good Lord." Whispered Trowa, slowly dropping Hiro to the gravel ground. Rubble and smoke dotted the scenery, and a few pockets of flames were disturbing what looked like a war-zone.

"Just what we need," sighed Quatre, "more negative publicity." He motioned for the students who were still visible to high-tail themselves back to the mansion, and then turned to the remaining Mutates.

"The girl is gone. It drove him over the edge." Wufei suddenly said, and Trowa nodded.

"If this is true, then we need her now, more then ever."

"Even if she's homo sapian? She's not a mutant." Quatre said, shocking them all. Hiro, most of all.

'…_Protect her, I didn't protet her, it's my fault, she's gone, protect her…'_

**TBC**

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Even though Hiro wasn't conscience for most of this chapter, I still hope you'll tell me how it's been, after so long. I sincerely apologize for all mistakes, and the delay.

-With Love,  
Lif


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